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Clarke sees a Lankan conspiracy in sex case against him

British science fiction author Arthur C Clarke has accused Sri Lankan child rights groups of a conspiracy to discredit him.

This follows the Sri Lankan police's seeking Interpol's help to investigate charges that the 80-year-old Clarke, who has been living on the island nation since 1956, is a paedophile.

British tabloids had levelled the allegation that the author had been having sex with local children.

Clarke, for his part, claimed he has been cleared of the allegations. In a one-page statement which his Colombo office issued, he said as the accusations had been ''proved to be complete fabrications,'' his delayed investiture as a knight would go ahead in London.

''He (Clarke) was disturbed to discover there has been a long-standing conspiracy here in Sri Lanka to discredit him, dating back at least to 1995, involving activists associated with child welfare organisations,'' the statement said.

It thanked the Sri Lanka police ''for their swift action in dealing with this unpleasant business,'' and claimed the local police contacted the Interpol to investigate the two British journalists who made the allegations against him in the Sunday Mirror in February.

The police, however, denied this, maintaining that it was Clarke's affairs they wanted probed.

"We are working with an open mind," said Deputy Inspector-General M H M Nizam, who made it clear the police inquiry was continuing despite the denials by Clarke and three men who were quoted in the Sunday Mirror, "We have asked the Interpol to help us get a copy of the taped interview which one of the journalists is supposed to have had with Clarke."

Meanwhile, the country's leading child rights group, the Protection of Environment and Children Everywhere, reacted strongly to Clarke's conspiracy theory.

"We are not overawed by personalities," PEACE leader Maureen Seneviraine said, "We are not respectors of individuals when it comes to paedophiles, whether foreign or local."

"There is no conspiracy," Seneviraine, who is also a member of the presidential task force for preventing child abuse, continued, "But organisations like ours try to educate people and reduce such offences."

Western diplomats, for their part, feel that Clarke may be taking things too much for granted about his proposed knighthood.

"He may be jumping the gun," they said.

UNI

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