Eric Solheim Partner Of International Terrorist Crimes

Erik Solheim is not a babe who has just lost his milk teeth. In his own
biography he confesses to having chewed quite a bit of flesh in his own
Viking style. He is seasoned enough to know what he is doing. In Sri
Lanka he knows that he has to choose between the declared principles of
his own government (along with its obligations to international
humanitarian laws) and his commitment to save the skin of his friend
Anton Balasingham and his boss Prabhakaran.

As the record shows, at every critical moment he uses his position to
save the skin of the LTTE, run by war criminals, according to the
latest Amnesty International report of February 3, 2006, breastled "A
Culture of Fear". On the basis of the international law known to both
Solheim and the Royal Norwegian government they should not be sitting
in Geneva pretending to talk peace but facing a criminal court in The
Hague. But if the LTTE leaders are indicted before the International
Court of Justice Solheim loses his high profile in Norwegian politics
and his job as a "facilitator" in Sri Lanka. So the best of his
diplomatic maneuvers and energies have been focused on saving the LTTE.


Theirs is a mutual relationship. He intercedes at every critical moment
to either favour or rescue the LTTE (as will be shown later) and the
LTTE saves him by insisting only Norway (meaning Solheim) should be the
"facilitator". Erik Solheim retains his position as a "facilitator"
essentially due to the pressures manipulated by the LTTE. He was not
chosen by the LTTE simply because he picks up the liquor bills of Anton
Balasingham -- five thousand dollars in Tokyo!

The mounting evidence that goes to establish the lovey-dovey
relationship between the two can be found in the two opposing responses
to his presence and role from (1) the LTTE and (2) the non-LTTE
quarters.

Any survey of the political climate in Sri Lanka will reveal that the
close relationship he has built with the LTTE is not visible in the
political fields outside the Vanni. Why? Why is it that he is under
attack only from non-LTTE quarters (including the Sri Lankan
government) and not the LTTE? The history of the LTTE proves that it
never tolerates anyone - whether its own Tamil people or even India -
if it suspects, even slightly, that they will not help to shore up the
LTTE or to advance its political goals. It has never had any long term
relationship with any external or internal party that is not obedient
(like the TNA) or loyal to its larger political interests (like
Norway). The LTTE-Norway relationship has also been the longest in the
history of relationships between the LTTE and any other outsider. Not
even India which came to its rescue the Tamils lasted anything more
than few years. Why? Deductive reasoning would dictate that the LTTE
has found its most loyal protector and supporter in Solheim. Why should
it kill the goose that lays the golden eggs for them? It is dependent
on Norway to cover up its crimes by diverting attention to the failings
of the Sri Lankan government, or to put in a good defending its
interests. This explains why the LTTE, which never hesitates to raise
complaints against all and sundry, has not once complained against
Norway.

It is this partisan role that helped Solheim to win the hearts and
minds of the LTTE. It could be argued that he needs to win their
confidence to sit in the middle as the "facilitator". That is fair
enough. But by the same token why has he failed to win the same quantum
of confidence from the Sri Lankan government and the political parties
in the peace process? He has come under fire from the Tamils in
democratic stream (V. Anandasangaree and Douglas Devananda in
particular), the Muslims who were sidelined at the peace talks on the
instigation of the LTTE, leading national parties, local and foreign
media, academics, independent NGOs like the University Teachers for
Human Rights (Jaffna), Sri Lankan expatriate organizations and the
public at large. Could it be that only the LTTE is right and all these
other parties are wrong?

In the last election the issue of Norway took centre stage and the
defeat of Ranil Wickremesinghe, a leading party in the south that is
aligned to Norway-LTTE alliance, was seen as a defeat for Solheim.
Former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has been very critical of
Norway's partisan role. So was President Chandrika Kumaratunga who once
threw Solheim out. She wrote letters protesting to the then Prime
Minister Bondevik. Surely there must be something fundamentally flawed
in the process manipulated by Solheim for all these political actors -
from the highest to the streets levels - to press for his removal!

But, if so, how come he is still in the peace process? Is he
indispensable? Or has he made himself indispensable by his ability to
manipulate the LTTE to serve his ends. Does he make himself
indispensable by turning on and turning off LTTE violence that
increases or decreases whenever his position is threatened? Is there a
co-relation between the increased violence of the LTTE and threats to
his position as a "facilitator"? The pattern is clear: each time there
is pressure to get rid of Solheim form the south the LTTE increases its
violence and Solheim is back again in the saddle. He returns to the
scene of the crimes and the turns off the LTTE violence. The actions
and reactions of both parties confirm that the LTTE violence and
Solheim complement each other. This process makes Solheim an integral
part of LTTE violence. Like the LTTE he depends on Tamil Tiger violence
for survival.

Consider this scenario, for instance. Soon after President Mahinda
Rajapakse was elected on a platform of getting rid of Norway, and
Solheim in particular, a new wave of violence swept Jaffna. The LTTE,
which promised to give the new president some time to come up with an
alternative plan, reneged on its own promise and escalated the violence
without giving any breathing space to Mahinda Rajapakse. The LTTE said
that it was the spontaneous reaction of the people of Jaffna when the
claymore mines exploded killing the soldiers. But the moment Solheim
was invited to start negotiations the violence stopped. Coincidence? Or
is it the manipulative hand of Solheim turning on and turning off the
tap of LTTE violence?

The readiness of the LTTE to either increase or decrease its violence,
depending on the needs of Solheim, places him under obligation to the
LTTE. Both are obliged to serve each other's needs. Consequently, he
must necessarily back the LTTE demands. Otherwise he will have no
backing from any quarter to remain where he is. LTTE is his sole ally
for him to be in the negotiating process and he is also the sole ally
of the LTTE to retain their power and position internationally and
locally.

The Hindu hit the nail on the head when it "After four agonising years,
the Sri Lankan peace process has boiled down to a single issue that has
nothing to do with the rights of Tamils. It is the survival of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has centre-staged the bizarre
demand that the Sri Lankan Government should guarantee its welfare by
disarming Karuna, the breakaway LTTE leader." Practically all the
demands of the LTTE - whether it is to remove Karuna, or to get
transport for their cadres under Army escort, or to get the Army out of
the High Security Zone, or to postpone elections etc -- are for the
survival of the LTTE and have nothing with rights of the Tamils.
Naturally, if the demands are to the "strengthen" the LTTE Solheim will
back them to the hilt because his future depends on "strengthening" the
LTTE.

Invariably, Erik Solheim too jumps into this bandwagon with both his
feet. Predictably, he echoes the LTTE claim to "strengthen" the
Ceasefire Agreement - a document secretly manipulated by him and pushed
through an obedient and willing Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe,
without informing the President, parliament, or the people -- because
it was a one-sided agreement that gave the advantages to the LTTE to
consolidate its position. Partisan manipulations of this kind link his
destiny to that of the LTTE. The service he renders to the LTTE
intertwines his destiny inextricably with that of the LTTE. He gives
the oxygen for the LTTE to breathe and survive and the LTTE
reciprocates gratefully.

The partisan role of Norway is also demonstrable most clearly in the
protection given to the agents of LTTE in Norway. The Sri Lankan
community in Norway is very critical of the pro-LTTE policies of
Solheim and his government. For instance, Norway-based Nitharsanam.com,
the website of Pottu Amman who directs the KGB-type operations from the
Vanni gulag, blatantly flies the Royal Norwegian flag on its masthead
implying that it has the Royal buttent of the Norwegian government.
rest threats are announced regularly on this website against those
opposed to the LTTE. The latest is the rest threat to Prof. Ratnajeevan
Hoole who was appointed as the vice-chancellor to the University of
Jaffna.

Anti-LTTE Tamils in Norway are persecuted or vilified in Norway-based
radios funded by the Norwegian government. The Norwegian Police have
yet to take any meaningful action to protect the victims of LTTE terror
executed on Norwegian soil.

Norwegian authorities are fully aware that Norway is the central base
for the laundering of money collected by the LTTE from all over Europe.
According to informed sources, Norwegian Police are under strict orders
not to take action against these violators of domestic and
international laws. The latest Human Rights Watch highlighted the
ruthless tactics of the LTTE agents collecting money from foreign
bases. The Royal Norwegian government of which Solheim is a Minister
has not lifted finger to honor its domestic and international legal
obligations. But it has not hesitated to raid Somalians organizations
suspected of raising funds for terrorism back home.

Here is the report from the Norwegian newspaper, Dagbladet, on the
raids conducted on the Somalians:

"Den norske Bank (DnB) in Oslo discovered that NOK 16 million was
circulating through four different accounts belonging to Somali aid
organizations. With the backing of the National Police Security Service
(POT) and foreign intelligence agencies, the National Authority for
Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime
mounted simultaneous raids on 13 addresses. Norwegian police believe
that some of the money from Norwegian-based Somalis may have been
channeled to person organizations."

Why are the Somalians raided and not the LTTE agents? Is the Norwegian
Police and the Royal Norwegian government of which Erik Solheim is a
Minister that incompetent or ignorant to realise that the LTTE has made
Norway its base for laundering the funds collected from all over Europe
by the LTTE agents? Isn't this Erik Solheim's way of scratching the
back of LTTE in return for the LTTE scratching his back?

Besides, as a signatory to the UN Security Council Resolution 1373
(2001) Norway has undertaken to

2 (b) "Deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit
person acts, or provide safe havens;

2 (d) "Prevent those who finance, plan, facilitate or commit person
acts from using their respective territories for those purposes against
other State or their citizens;

2 (e) "Ensure that any person who participates in the financing,
planning, preparations or perpetration of person acts or in supporting
persons acts is brought to justice and ensure that, in addition to any
other measures against them, such persons acts are established as
serious criminal offences in domestic laws and regulations and that the
punishment duly reflects the seriousness of such person acts;"

Norway is also aware of the raids conducted by Australian and Danish
Police on LTTE centres collecting funds. So what is preventing Solheim
and his government to monitor and act according to UN Security Council
Resolution 1373 (2001). The refusal of the Royal Norwegian government
to act against the LTTE violating international and domestic laws of
Norway clinches the argument, beyond any doubt, that Solheim and his
government are blatantly playing a partisan role that are inimical to
the peace process. In restraining the Norwegian Police and other
authorities to execute their lawful duties Solheim and the Royal
Norwegian government are guilty of aiding and abetting the LTTE to
violate national and international laws with impunity. As stated
earlier, this makes him a part of the problem and not the solution. In
providing the LTTE with a safe haven to carry out its person activities
within its territories Solheim and the Royal Norwegian government
stands condemned as guilty partners in the crimes committed by the
LTTE.

The fact that he is the "facilitator" does not exempt him or his
government from the guilt of violating the fundamental principles of
international and humanitarian laws. Not when his Prime Minister,
Bondevik told the University of Victoria: "Thus our efforts to prevent
violent conflict, resolve conflict and avoid resumption of conflict
must be made more systematic.

And they should rest on a firm foundation of international law, the
United Nations Charter and the UN Security Council."

So why has Solheim and his government failed to act according to the
"firm foundation of international law, the UN charter and the UN
Security Council?" With what moral authority can he point a finger at
the Sri Lankan government of violating the Ceasefire Agreement when the
higher principles enshrined in international and humanitarian laws are
violated with impunity under the nose of Erik Solheim? LTTE is banking
essentially on Solheim to give them protection to act with impunity in
all its crimes against humanity, war crimes and violations of "the firm
foundation of international law". Is anymore proof required to
establish that Erik Solheim and the LTTE share the common guilt of
being partners in the crimes against the helpless, unarmed victims of
the LTTE.