Condemning terrorism: Standards differ

Visiting British Foreign Minister Mike O’Brien speaking in Colombo on Wednesday has expressed grave concern about ‘new threats to international security’ posed by rogue states and terrorists and stressed the need to disarm Iraq and crack down on terror groups like Al Qaeda.

On how to meet these threats, he has said, "The Al Qaeda terrorists are a distinct phenomenon. Unlike the IRA and the LTTE who have political goals, the Al Qaeda seems to have an agenda with which we cannot negotiate. They want the imposition of a distorted version of Sharia law on societies which do not want it. This is a red line which we cannot cross. We cannot negotiate with this group."

The classification by Mr. O’Brien of terror outfits is fraught with ambiguity in that every terrorist group claims to have a political goal. As he himself admits the Al Qaeda’s goal is the creation of society which will conform to ‘a distorted version of Sharia.’ This goal may be considered fanatically religious by the UK and its allies yet it may be an acceptable political goal to Al Qaeda allies. Osama bin Laden himself has spelt out the so-called political goals of his outfit. He has said he is unleashing terror to achieve his goal of putting an end to ‘Zionist occupation of Palestinian land,’ ‘Presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, a land holy to Muslims because of Mecca,’ ‘US foreign policy in favour of Israel’ etc. On the other hand Al Qaeda, as its leaders and allies have claimed, is not trying to slap Sharia on non-Muslim societies.

Friends of Al Qaeda may demand that bin Laden be talked to because of these ‘political goals.’

Mr. O’Brien talks of the LTTE as a terrorist group with a political goal, the implication being that the way to deal with it is through negotiations and not military means. But what is the LTTE striving to achieve really? The goal of the LTTE is obviously the creation of a terror state sans political dissent as could be seen from the elimination by the LTTE of democratic opposition and the preparation of the future generations for terrorism through child combatants. Is Mr. O’Brien of the view that this kind of rule by the LTTE, if achieved, will be different from the ‘distorted version of Sharia?’

If we adopt Mr. O’Brien’s yardstick of ‘political goals’ in determining how to deal with terrorists, we will have accepted the end-justifies-the-end slogan used by terrorists to justify their crimes against humanity. Such a policy will help terrorism thrive deriving sustenance from negotiations. Here we see how negotiations are being exploited by the LTTE to pursue its ‘political goal.’

How Britain is negotiating with the IRA, which Mr. O’ Brien says has a ‘political goal’ is of importance to Sri Lanka. It is also worth emulating. The Good Friday Agreement, which underpins the British peace process says, "Resolution of decommissioning issue is an indispensable part of the process of negotiations." And when the Northern Ireland Power sharing Arrangement was suspended recently, Prime Minister Tony Blair made no bones about what his government wanted. "IRA," he demanded, "has to commit itself publicly and verifiably to decommissioning." He went beyond this later when he demanded ‘demilitarisation,’ without being accused by the ‘international community’ of trying to ‘scuttle the peace process.’

This being how the British government is dealing with a ‘terrorist outfit with a political goal’ shouldn’t the same condition apply to Sri Lanka’s peace process as well? Will the British government support the Sri Lanka government if the latter lays down decommissioning LTTE weapons as a condition?

Minister O’Brien in his speech has also given the formula for removing the scourge of terrorism. "To win this war on terrorism," he has said, "we need to have an unprecedented level of international cooperation. We need to cut off terrorist funds; restrict terrorist movements; and prosecute the terrorists themselves."

We couldn’t agree with him more. This exactly is how the world can slay hydra headed terrorism. But it is this cooperation that is sadly lacking in the so-called global war against terrorism. For example, Mr. O’Brien talks of the need to prosecute terrorists. Sri Lanka has not only prosecuted the leader of the LTTE but also sentenced him to 200 years of RI. Unfortunately, governments including ours and Mr. O’Brien’s, have turned a blind eye to this conviction. We have foreign envoys meeting this convict in his hideout. So, what’s the use of prosecuting terrorists, Mr. O’Brien?

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