Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that he was prepared to appear before any judiciary on behalf of the soldiers who obeyed his orders as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to liberate the Northern and Eastern Province from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), reports say.
"I am prepared to take the full responsibility of those orders and appear before any judiciary on their (forces') behalf," he said, while addressing state bank officials and youth representatives of Galle district in Colombo on Saturday.
He said no security personnel, who fought bravely against the LTTE to end the group's 26-year fight for a separate Tamil homeland, needed to worry about any conspiracy against them. He said the "freedom" won by sacrificing 26,000 lives will never be betrayed by anybody.
He said another 5,000 youth lost their limbs in this heroic struggle in these regions during the prolonged LTTE battle.
Also, the president warned of a "conspiracy" to devalue the victory achieved by Lankan armed forces against the LTTE.
"The President said there is conspiracy after conspiracy to downgrade the heroic feat achieved by the armed forces. It should be remembered that the soldiers fought bravely by taking orders from him and he would go to any judiciary on behalf of them," a report on the Defense Ministry quoted Rajapaksa as saying.
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