Co-chair countries have appealed to the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE not to make A9 highway a political issue because it’s a humanitarian problem. Co-chair countries have referred to certain views relating to the humanitarian problems in their joint statement.

The statement states that the Co-chair countries call upon both parties to open the Sea and land route for the transport of essential supplies forthwith without any pre- conditions.

But in the next sentence, the statement states that the Co-chairs welcome the initial move of the government for a one off aid convoy to Jaffna along the A9 highway.

This announcement of the government does not imply that it proposes to open the A9 highway at all in the future. Its commitment is only for one move and that is all for which the Co-chairs laud the government.

Aren’t the Co-chair countries contradictory on their own stand? It’s this unevenhandedness of the Co-chair countries and their lack of impartiality that causes concern among the Tamils and induces the government to proceed on human rights violations.

This is echoed in the statement made by government spokesmen Minister Eheliya Rambukwella, government spokesman, has stated that the A9 highway will not be re-opened unless the LTTE agrees to the conditions laid down by the government.

The government spokesman spells out such conditions to re-open the A9 highway immediately after the Co-chair countries made an appeal to the Lankan government and the LTTE to re-open the highway for essential supplies without any pre-conditions.

The response of the government to the appeal by the co-chair countries is obvious.

It is the misfortune of the Tamils that the Co-chair countries take up such an unfair stand.

An English translation of the Editorial in Uthayan, a Tamil daily, based in Jaffna

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