'Tsunami aid can't be tied to peace'

Chandrika said aid to Lanka should not be tied to progress in peace process, reports PK Balachanddran.

The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, has said that foreign tsunami aid to her country should not be tied to progress in the peace process.

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In an interview to the state-TV network Rupavahini on Wednesday, Kumaratunga lambasted an un-named opposition party for telling international donors that tsunami aid to Sri Lanka should be linked to progress in the peace process.

The President said that diplomats from some of the donor countries had told her that certain Sri Lankan opposition leaders had told their governments that aid should not be given to Sri Lanka in the absence of progress in the peace process.

"Peace is necessary. But if anyone tries to stop humanitarian aid reaching the devastated people that is the greatest act of betrayal anyone can imagine," the President said.

It is noteworthy that top opposition United National Party's leaders like Ranil Wickremesinghe and Milinda Moragoda, were in Davos and Norway discussing tsunami aid and the peace process in Sri Lanka.