By Walter Jayawardhana

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said no soldier who heeded his orders as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of Sri Lanka to liberate the Northern and Eastern Province needs to worry as he was prepared to take the full responsibility of those orders and appear before any judiciary on their behalf.

The President was addressing state bank officials and youth representatives of the Galle District in the Temple Trees premises in Colombo, yesterday.

The President reminded the gathering the two provinces which were under the jack boot of the terrorists by sacrificing the precious lives of 26,000 youth who were also wanted for the development of this country. He said in this heroic struggle another 5000 also lost their limbs.

He said the freedom won by sacrificing 26,000 lives will never be betrayed to anybody. The two areas which were virtually separated have been rejoined by the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s security forces.

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,

The President said while banks were crashing down in other countries during the recent crisis Sri Lanka was able to steer clear of such disasters through wise moves taken ahead. The President said the economy is directed to a positive path with the routing of terrorism. He said the government was clearly fulfilling its responsibilities in further strengthening of the economy.

Taking the audience little back to recent history the President said once there was a move to privatise state banks and he had to oppose and prevent the move as a cabinet minister. The President assured under the present government no question would arise regarding privatisation. Instead, he assured they would be strengthened more.