NEWS-2007/08/25
By Aamna Mahboob
Police are seeking assistance from the public in nabbing the killers of the Danish Demining Group (DDG) local staff member in Jaffna earlier this week, with the assurance of security for those who furnish any information, police spokesman Jayantha Wickramaratne told The Daily Mirror
Amid the growing number of killings of humanitarian workers in Sri Lanka over the last two years, the most serious being that of 17 aid workers in Mutur last year, the DDG staffer was killed and another injured while traveling on a motorbike in Jaffna.
Senior DIG Wickramaratne said the investigation into the killing had stalled as very few people were keen to provide information owing to fears of LTTE reprisals.
He stressed that public cooperation would greatly assist the police probe and noted that if they feared LTTE threats, then the information could be forwarded by mail or by telephone.
“If people are scared of being identified they can send their information by letter. The police are facing similar problems in obtaining information from the public in places like Vavuniya and Batticalao because of LTTE
threats,” the police spokesman said.
DDG country programme manager Steen Wetlesen said the group, with a staff of 300 in Jaffna, had suspended its work on the peninsula till a plan on staff security was put in place.
"During the last two years four of our staff members have disappeared and two have been killed," he told Reuters.
The killings come just weeks after UN Humanitarian Chief Sir John Holmes said in an interview to Reuters that Sri Lanka was among the most dangerous places for aid workers.
By Aamna Mahboob
Police are seeking assistance from the public in nabbing the killers of the Danish Demining Group (DDG) local staff member in Jaffna earlier this week, with the assurance of security for those who furnish any information, police spokesman Jayantha Wickramaratne told The Daily Mirror
Amid the growing number of killings of humanitarian workers in Sri Lanka over the last two years, the most serious being that of 17 aid workers in Mutur last year, the DDG staffer was killed and another injured while traveling on a motorbike in Jaffna.
Senior DIG Wickramaratne said the investigation into the killing had stalled as very few people were keen to provide information owing to fears of LTTE reprisals.
He stressed that public cooperation would greatly assist the police probe and noted that if they feared LTTE threats, then the information could be forwarded by mail or by telephone.
“If people are scared of being identified they can send their information by letter. The police are facing similar problems in obtaining information from the public in places like Vavuniya and Batticalao because of LTTE
threats,” the police spokesman said.
DDG country programme manager Steen Wetlesen said the group, with a staff of 300 in Jaffna, had suspended its work on the peninsula till a plan on staff security was put in place.
"During the last two years four of our staff members have disappeared and two have been killed," he told Reuters.
The killings come just weeks after UN Humanitarian Chief Sir John Holmes said in an interview to Reuters that Sri Lanka was among the most dangerous places for aid workers.
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