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Mahinda to meet Pope
Friday, 13 April 2007 - 4:49 AM SL Time
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa will next week embark on what analysts see as a significant visit to the Vatican to garner much needed international support for government efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict even as the co-chairs decided to adopt a `wait and see` policy on the future of a negotiated settlement.
The President`s visit to the Vatican comes just days after Pope Benedict XVI, in his Easter day message, called on the government and the LTTE to stop violence and resume talks. In his Easter message last Sunday, Pope Benedict called on Sri Lanka`s warring parties to return to negotiations to end violence.
`In Sri Lanka, only a negotiated solution can put an end to the conflict that causes so much bloodshed,` Pope Benedict said. `I am thinking of the scourge of hunger, of incurable diseases, of terrorism and kidnapping of people, of the thousand faces of violence which some people attempt to justify in the name of religion, of contempt for life, of the violation of human rights and the exploitation of persons,` he noted.
President Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit the Vatican on Wednesday for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on an invitation by the Papal Nuncio in Sri Lanka Archbishop Mario Zenari and it would be the first meeting between a Sri Lankan leader and the leader of the Roman Catholic church.
Public Estate Management and Development Minister Milroy Fernado told the Daily Mirror that the President would lead a delegation of Catholic Ministers and MPs including him, Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Dayasritha Tissera and several others.
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama is also expected to accompany the President.
The delegation is also to attend a special ceremony at the Vatican to mark the second anniversary of the pontification of Pope Benedict on April 19.
The government and the LTTE this week expressed willingness to resume peace talks but the co-chairs to the Tokyo Donor Conference have decided to adopt a `wait and see` approach with regard to the future of the peace process, the Daily Mirror learns.
Diplomatic sources said the decision was taken as the government and the Tigers were not showing a commitment to resume talks or stop human rights violations in the country. It is learnt that envoys of the United States, Japan, Norway and the European Union met at the US Ambassador`s official residence in Colombo on Tuesday evening and discussed several crucial issues, including the recruitment of under-aged children.
The envoys had also expressed their displeasure over the parties ignoring their repeated requests to resume peace talks and stop human rights violations. At the end of the discussions, the co-chairs had reportedly decided to inform their decisions to the international community.
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MaKaSo
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12 Apr 2007 22:01:23 GMT Report for Abuse
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The government and the LTTE this week expressed willingness to resume peace talks but the co-chairs to the Tokyo Donor Conference have decided to adopt a 'wait and see' approach
it sounds like co-chairs don't want a peaceful settlement in SL. However, the government and Tigers are committed to peace talks. :):):) LOL
they expressed willingness...my foot!!
Who is this writer??? |
Vignesh
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12 Apr 2007 22:04:55 GMT Report for Abuse
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This is good move
Pope will definitely support his and paramilitary campaign against the LTTE thugs |
Robins
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12 Apr 2007 22:09:57 GMT Report for Abuse
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That was a great match!!
Now this Moto Rolla is spoiling it with this news!! Is he going to beg the Pope to believe his forces are not murdering the innocent civilians!! How is he going to convince the POpe about the killings of the CHristian Priests? He had his investigations anyone caught or punished? |
Helaya
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12 Apr 2007 22:13:18 GMT Report for Abuse
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| Mahinda mama going to eat Pop-Corn for new year.. lol |
sivag99
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12 Apr 2007 22:43:58 GMT Report for Abuse
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| I wish the Pope takes MR in to a room and slaps some common sense into him ... or just plain slaps him! |
DVLADV
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12 Apr 2007 22:46:52 GMT Report for Abuse
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on an invitation by the Papal Nuncio in Sri Lanka Archbishop Mario Zenari
Has the Archbishop lost his mind? Maybe he dint know how things work in SL. You speak to people like this at the gate and even as a courtesy never ask them to come inside, or they will pollute the place. As a catholic it gives me distress.
As far as the trip is concerned and the Pope's knowledge of SL he should have quite a few letters from the local bishops and missionaries.
Hope he is also taking the mutilated body of Fr.Brown amd pictures of the churches burned with his help. |
Robins
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12 Apr 2007 22:48:15 GMT Report for Abuse
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SivaG
You think the slaps will work! must be kidding!
You can convert someone seriously looking for an answer!! not someone trying to cheat his people and the world! |
chinthanaya
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12 Apr 2007 22:51:17 GMT Report for Abuse
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The distortion in Sri Lanka of Amnesty International's campaign 'Play by the Rules' is a ploy to distract attention from the increasingly desperate plight of hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan people. 'Let us be clear -- no side in this conflict has anything to be complacent about. On the contrary, all parties are breaching international law by failing to protect civilians' said Purna Sen, Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty International. |
sivag99
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12 Apr 2007 22:54:40 GMT Report for Abuse
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DVLADV,
But this is an elaborate setup. One look at this ignoramus, and the Pope would have the chance to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Going to be another PR flop for the GOSL coolies.
Cheers
Siva |
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