Mahinda denies giving money to the LTTE in 2005

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa today denied allegations that he had given the LTTE money in 2005 in order to win the then Presidential election.

In 2005 the LTTE had prevented the people from taking part in the elections, which allowed Rajapaksa to win with the support of the Sinhala votes in the South.

Rajapaksa said that if he had given money to the LTTE he would not have taken much efforts to try to defeat them.

He said that if LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabakaran was alive today he would ask him if the story was really true.

“Prabakaran had said this story. I would like to ask him if it is true. But he is not alive today,” Rajapaksa said at a media briefing today.

The former President also said that it was no secret who gave arms to the LTTE to defeat the Indian peacekeeping force and who really funded the LTTE.

Rajapaksa also said that the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is confident of winning the August 17 Parliamentary election and he is confident of being made the next Prime Minister.

He said the United National Party (UNP) is still talking of forming a coalition Government after the election and that shows that they do not have the confidence of securing majority seats on their own.

Meanwhile UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha said that the UNP is misleading the public by saying it is contesting the election under the United National Front for Good Governance.

He said that the?United National Front for Good Governance is not registered as a political party and so?the UNP can contest only as the UNP under the elephant symbol and the other political parties who are supporting the UNP are also contesting as the UNP. (Colombo Gazette)