Agencies
PHNOM PENH: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wikremanayake finished a visit to the Cambodian capital yesterday with a tour of a genocide museum after finalising an agreement with Cambodia to co-operate on combating terrorism.
On his last day in the capital before heading for the northern tourist town of Siem Reap and the famous Angkor Wat temples, Wikremanayake toured S-21, or Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's secret prison where thousands of prisoners were tortured before being executed.
A visibly moved Wikremanayake told reporters as he left that 'S-21 is a terrible place,' but his attention was soon drawn back to his country's own civil war involving the Tamil Tiger rebels, which has been fighting the government for a separate state for the minority Tamils.
"The Tamil Tigers are terrorists," he said. "We have asked them to come and negotiate for the sake of the stability of the country."
The Tigers are known for suicide bombings, but both sides have been accused of atrocities in the conflict.
Earlier in the day, Wikremanayake met Prime Minister Hun Sen and thanked him for ensuring that weapons smuggling that had once helped supply the Tamil Tigers from war-torn Cambodia had been stopped, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said.
Hun Sen in turn condemned Tamil Tiger violence in Sri Lanka and pledged full support for the Sri Lankan government.
Wikremanayake also announced he would be leaving a senior Sri Lankan general in Cambodia for an unspecified period of time to work closely with the Defence Ministry and police to exchange knowledge on combating terrorism and 'counter-espionage,' Kanharith said.
The two delegations also signed memorandums on education and scientific and technology exchange, and Wikremanayake extended an invitation for Hun Sen to stage a return state visit to Sri Lanka.
On his last day in the capital before heading for the northern tourist town of Siem Reap and the famous Angkor Wat temples, Wikremanayake toured S-21, or Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's secret prison where thousands of prisoners were tortured before being executed.
A visibly moved Wikremanayake told reporters as he left that 'S-21 is a terrible place,' but his attention was soon drawn back to his country's own civil war involving the Tamil Tiger rebels, which has been fighting the government for a separate state for the minority Tamils.
"The Tamil Tigers are terrorists," he said. "We have asked them to come and negotiate for the sake of the stability of the country."
The Tigers are known for suicide bombings, but both sides have been accused of atrocities in the conflict.
Earlier in the day, Wikremanayake met Prime Minister Hun Sen and thanked him for ensuring that weapons smuggling that had once helped supply the Tamil Tigers from war-torn Cambodia had been stopped, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said.
Hun Sen in turn condemned Tamil Tiger violence in Sri Lanka and pledged full support for the Sri Lankan government.
Wikremanayake also announced he would be leaving a senior Sri Lankan general in Cambodia for an unspecified period of time to work closely with the Defence Ministry and police to exchange knowledge on combating terrorism and 'counter-espionage,' Kanharith said.
The two delegations also signed memorandums on education and scientific and technology exchange, and Wikremanayake extended an invitation for Hun Sen to stage a return state visit to Sri Lanka.
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