By Jamila Najmuddin

The government says senior officials will continue with their overseas visits as scheduled despite the threat posed by some LTTE lobbyists in the west. Government Defence Spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella told Daily Mirror online that despite the LTTE being defeated militarily by the army, the LTTE diaspora continued to function overseas, posing a threat to the government ministers.

However Rambukwella said that despite such threats, the government would continue their official visits overseas in order to strengthen its international ties. 

“We had a threat even when the LTTE was active in the country. However they were wiped out by the army. We will not back out from traveling overseas just because of the LTTE lobbyists,” Rambukwella said.

According to media reports the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, Dr. Palitha Kohona has blamed the LTTE lobbyists for postponing his visit to Canada where he was scheduled to deliver a lecture at the Toronto University. His visit was put on hold following a security assessment.

Media reports said that Margaret McKone, Executive Director at the University said the planned lecture had to be postponed pending a standard ‘security assessment’. (Daily Mirror online)