Srisaba's 20th anniversary Day - 06/05/06
We’ll NEVER FORGET THE FORGOTTEN
Twohundred of our fellow members were killed or wounded
we will never, ever forget them or the sacrifices they made.

31 May 2006

End violence or risk aid

Sri Lanka's foreign donors warned the government and Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday that their conflict was unwinnable and urged them to end mounting violence or risk losing international support. Donors led by Japan pledged 4.5 billion dollars in 2003 as an incentive for the island to end three decades of ethnic conflict, but more than 600 people have died since December in defiance of a ceasefire. Japan, the European Union, Norway and the United States called on both Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to "take immediate steps to reverse the deteriorating situation and put the country back on the road to peace."

Full text of the Press Release issued by the Embassy of Japan follows:

Co-Chairs met today in Tokyo at a time when Sri Lanka is on the brink of war

Japan convened this meeting, three years after the original Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka, to decide whether the Co-Chairs, namely the European Union, Japan, US and Norway, can usefully help further in addressing Sri Lanka’s crisis when the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE do not seem to be able to prevent the sliding back into violence.

The Co-Chairs call on both parties to take immediate steps to reverse the deteriorating situation and put the country back on the road to peace.

The LTTE must re-enter the negotiating process. It must renounce terrorism and violence. It must show that it is willing to make the political compromises needed for a political solution within a united Sri Lanka. This solution should include democratic rights of all peoples of Sri Lanka. The international community will respond favourably to such actions; failure to do so will lead to deeper isolation of the LTTE.

The Government must show that it will address the legitimate grievances of the Tamils. It must immediately prevent groups based in its territory from carrying out violence and acts of terrorism. It must protect the rights and security of Tamils throughout the country and ensure violators are prosecuted. It must show that it is ready to make the dramatic political changes to bring about a new system of governance which will enhance the rights of all Sri Lankans, including the Muslims. The international community will support such steps; failure to take such steps will diminish international support.

The Co-Chairs recognize that both parties have responsibilities which they have failed to deliver upon, including the commitments made at their meeting in Geneva in February 2006. The LTTE is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks. The Government has failed to prevent attacks of armed groups, including Karuna and violent elements of EPDP.

The violence that has resulted is no longer confined to the parties to the conflict but has spilled over to ruin or end the lives of innocent civilians. This has led to a breakdown of law and order and the terrorization of the affected population. Abuses of human rights have been assessed recently by the UN and others. The Co-Chairs call on all parties to respect human rights and pursue human rights’ abuses. This situation is not sustainable and the country will continue its slide into greater conflict unless the two protagonists cease all violence and resolve their differences through peaceful negotiation.

While the situation gives cause for grave concern, the Co-Chairs concluded that the ingredients for a peaceful settlement remain present. The majority in Sri Lanka still seek peace. All Co-Chairs renewed their commitment to do all possible to help Sri Lanka in a manner that promotes peace and to support the current Norwegian-facilitated peace effort. Other countries and organizations share this view and wish to support the Co-Chairs’ effort. To this end, the Co-Chairs will explore interest for allocating tasks to other groups of countries to improve the efficiency of work within the areas defined by the participants in the Tokyo Conference three years ago.

The Tamil and Muslim peoples of Sri Lanka have justified and substantial grievances that have not yet been adequately addressed. The Co-Chairs encourage the Government of the Sri Lanka to further develop concrete policies for addressing the grievances of minorities and for building mutual confidence between different communities. The Co-Chairs and the international community will support the Government’s efforts towards implementing such policies.

However, three years of work since the original Tokyo Conference shows the international community can only support but cannot deliver peace. Peace can only be delivered by Sri Lankans themselves. The Co-Chairs’ role can be meaningful only where those parties want to help themselves in bringing peace with commitment and honesty.

Both parties have agreed to the basic principles of any future peace during the successful period of negotiation in 2002-2003. The parties should recommit to these principles set down in the Ceasefire Agreement, the decisions from the six rounds of talks, and the meeting in Geneva in February 2006. In this context, the Co-Chairs will support any solution agreed by the parties that safeguards the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, assures protection and fulfils the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people and indeed of the Muslim people, guarantees democracy and human rights, and is acceptable to all communities. Norway has prepared a number of initiatives for the parties to return to talks, which will be issued shortly. The Co-Chairs endorsed these initiatives.

The solutions to the problem cannot be brought through conflict – the history of Sri Lanka shows that war is not winnable for either side and simply causes immense suffering to the citizens. Finding solutions requires political commitment, imagination and spirit of compromise and the responsibility for this lies solely with the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.

The Co-Chairs reiterate their support for the important role of Norway as facilitator to the peace process and the ceasefire monitoring activities of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in an increasingly difficult situation. At the same time, it is necessary to examine how to strengthen the role of SLMM.

The Co-chairs note that over $ 3,400 million has been provided by donors based on Tokyo pledges and tsunami funds, and more than 20% of that assistance has been allocated to the North and East including LTTE controlled area. Such assistance has contributed to improving the livelihood of people in Sri Lanka. As long as the commitment to the Ceasefire Agreement by both parties is proven by way of their actions, the international community will continue its assistance in addition to humanitarian aid. As improvement of health, education and development is important as confidence-building measures, the Co-Chairs could also provide funding to support the efforts to meet these critical needs.

The Co-Chairs reaffirm that a continuous and positive involvement of the UN, Red Cross, and civil society, including the NGOs, in the peace process is vital. However, there has been increasing criticism of and even open attacks against these actors lately. The Co-Chairs condemn absolutely these attacks. The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE should ensure their protection so their positive work for Sri Lanka can continue. The Co-Chairs will follow up closely the findings of the agencies involved in monitoring human rights, such as the UN and SLMM.

Three years ago at the original Tokyo Conference, the international community was requested to support the peace process. The key elements to this process were the facilitation by Norway, the monitoring role of the SLMM, the Co-Chairs and substantial aid flows from a multitude of donors. The international community remains committed to its supporting role agreed three years ago but it turns to the government and LTTE to deliver on their side of the bargain if war is to be avoided.

Govt. wants time to consider Tokyo statement

The government responded cautiously to the Tokyo Co-Chairs’ statement yesterday asking time to consider a suitable response.The Co-Chairs called on both the government and the LTTE to recommit to the Cease Fire Agreement, the agreements reached during the six rounds of talks between 2002-2003 and the February 2006 Geneva talks.The government and the LTTE agreed during the 2002-2003 talks in Oslo to explore a federal solution within a united Sri Lanka whilst recognising the right to internal self determination of the Tamil speaking peoples in areas of their historical habitation.President Mahinda Rajapakse has insisted any solution will be based within a unitary state and the Co-Chairs has now called on the Government and the LTTE to decide on their commitment to a federal solution.Head of the Government Peace Secretariat, palith Kohona told The Morning Leader any government would need time to consider this statement

Sri Lanka - Alleged execution-style killings raise war fears

The 14 men had just wound up a hard day's work digging an irrigation canal in eastern Sri Lanka when a group of gunmen slipped out of the dark, forced them to line up and then shot them in the head. At least 12 workers _ all from the country's ethnic Sinhalese majority _ were killed in the attack, the latest in a series of assaults that have threatened to revive a full-scale civil war between the minority ethnic Tamils and the government. ``It was about 6:30 in the evening when the attackers came,'' said area police leader Saman Perera, citing information from one of the workers, W.P.P. Vijayabandara, who managed to escape.

Vijayabandara said he pretended to be dead, then walked through the night and reported the massacre to police Tuesday morning. ``They ordered the men to line up, and then they were tied in ones and twos and threes by ropes,'' Perera said, again citing Vijayabandara. ``Then, they were shot.'' ``We have found 12 bodies,'' said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. ``All of them were executed with bullets fired to their heads.'' Some of the bodies were shot through the chest and abdomen as well, he said.

The remaining worker's identity was not immediately clear, and it was not known where he was or if he had survived Monday night's attack in the eastern hamlet of Omadiamadu. In the capital, Colombo, the army and the government blamed the attack on Tamil Tiger rebels, who denied involvement. The Tigers _ formally called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE _ have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland, claiming discrimination by the Sinhalese. At least 65,000 people died before a cease-fire in 2002. But subsequent peace talks have faltered and burgeoning violence in recent months threatens to plunge the island nation off southern India back into full-scale civil war.

The government and rebels blame each other for the renewed attacks, which have claimed more than 360 lives since April. Each side denies responsibility. The killings at Omadiamadu are ``part of a sinister plot by the LTTE to provoke a backlash so that they can justify their demand for separation,'' said government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella in Colombo. The attack coincided with the European Union listing the Tigers as a terrorist group. The rebels they carried out the massacre. ``We have no involvement in these killings at all,'' a top Tiger official, Seevaratnam Puleedevan, told The Associated Press by satellite phone from the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi. The government had been paying the 14 workers to dig an irrigation canal at Omadiamadu, which is surrounded by jungles and lies near Tiger-held territory.

Norwegian peace envoys have been struggling to persuade the government and rebels to return to peace talks suspended since 2003. In February, the two sides held talks in Geneva on how to strengthen the cease-fire, but a second round was canceled over various disagreements. On Saturday, the rebels agreed to discuss cease-fire monitoring with the Sri Lankan government in Norway June 8-9. Meanwhile in Japan, the United States, Norway and the European Union urged the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels to stop the escalating violence. ``The responsibility for ending the conflict lies solely with (the rebels) and the government of Sri Lanka,'' Japan's peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi, said Tuesday. He said there were limits to what the international community can do to help.

The European Union's decision on Monday to put the Tigers on a terrorist blacklist clears the way for the 25-nation bloc to freeze the rebels' assets within the EU, European diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the measure had not yet come into effect. It was not clear when the freeze will start. The United States, Canada and India already list the LTTE as a terrorist organization, hindering the Tigers' efforts to raise money from expatriate supporters there _ a crucial funding source for their rebellion.

Both parties shun Oslo invitation

LTTE spokesman Daya Master said that the organization will reconsider whether it should participate in a special discussion planned in Norway to discuss the implementation of conditions of the cease-fire agreement.He told 'Lanka e News' that they were compelled to think twice about participating in Oslo meeting in the wake of the European Union to proscribe the LTTE.However the LTTE had still not taken a decision not to attend the Oslo meeting, he claimed. The Norwegian government extended an invitation to the government and the LTTE to participate in a discussion scheduled for June 8 and 9 in Oslo regarding the implementation of the cease-fire agreement. LTTE political head Tamil Selvam told the media yesterday (30) that the organization accepted the invitation.Meanwhile the government too had not taken a decision on the matter. As the discussion is not on the peace process, the government is not likely to attend the meeting.

Ex-LTTE cadre shot dead in Peththalai

Masked gun men shot dead Thankaraja Rajanikanth, 26, a labourer who had left the LTTE several years ago, on Monday at 12:15 AM in Peththalai-Karungkalicholai within Valaichchenai police division in Batticaloa, Valaichchenai police said. Unidentified armed men entered Thankaraja's house at mid night lookingfor Mr Thankarajah. His mother told the men that he is at the neighbour's house.The gun men took Mr Thankarajah by force from the neighbour's house some distance away for interrogation before shooting him dead at close range, police said

Captured Karuna cadres meet SLMM, ICRC

Two cadres of Karuna paramilitary group who were captured by the fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on May 26th briefed the representatives of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and the media Tuesday morning at the Trincomalee district political secretariat in Sampoor located in Muttur east. Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE district political secretariat was also present at the briefing, LTTE sources said.
 
Five cadres of the Karuna group from the Pattiaddy SLA camp had entered into the no-man zone located between the LTTE and government held territories in Muttur division to attack the LTTE camp on May 26th morning. Three of the Karuna group were killed on the spot in the attack launched by the LTTE. Two of them Mr.P.Wijendran (25) of Mathurankuli and S.Gunarajan (22) of Panichchankerni were captured by the LTTE fighters, LTTE sources said.

Both Karuna cadres Mr.Wijendran and Mr.Gunarajan at the briefing said that about ten including them were brought to Trincomalee in a Dolphin van from Thivuchenai in Welikanda recently and were kept at a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp in the Trincomalee town close to sea shore.

Five of the cadres including them were later taken in a vehicle to Pattiaddy SLA camp in Thoppur in Muttur division. They were later asked by the SLA personnel to enter into the no-man zone and to attack the LTTE camp. Both of them were captured by the LTTE and three others in their group including the group leader Karuththa Ravi were killed in the attack by the LTTE, Wijendran told the SLMM.Both cadres said at the briefing that there were four Karuna group camps in Thivuchenai.

Two SLA troopers injured in Chullipuram attack

Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were seriously injured when a group of five unidentified gunmen fired at soldiers working in a compound near Chulipuram junction in Valligamam Tuesday 12:00 noon, sources in Jaffna said. The soldiers were cutting trees to reinforce the SLA camp located near Chullipuram Victoria College when the attack took place. Security sources, however, said only one soldier was injured. Residents who witnessed the incident said that they saw atleast two soldiers being transported in a vehicle to Palaly Military Hospital.SLA soldiers immediately cordoned off the area and conducted a house-to-house search, but no one was arrested according to local residents.Road leading to Karainagar in the Jaffna Islets from Chullipuram was blocked for vehicular traffic most of the afternoon, residents said.

Mannar, Jaffna Bishops meet SL President

Rev. Fr. Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar, and Rev. Fr. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna, met Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse Tuesday in Colombo, and discussed the ground situation in the Northeast, sources in Colombo said.The Bishops expressed their concern on the increasing number of civilian killings and the displacement of people from northeast seeking security elsewhere, sources said.The Bishops appealed to Mr Rajapakse to take steps to initiate talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka Government immediately, and also to make all efforts to stop the killings of civilians, sources close to the Bishops said.

President cannot shift from a unitary state, says Defence Advisor

President Mahinda Rajapakse cannot deviate from his pledge given to the public to maintain the unitary state, Presidential Defence Advisor H.M.G.B. Kotakadeniya said yesterday.Kotakadeniya, in an interview with The Morning Leader, said although there were many political entities urging the President to alter the unitary character of the state, he could not abandon his pledge made to the public.

"President Mahinda Rajapakse at last year’s presidential election said he would never deviate from the concept of a unitary state. If any party asks him to abandon this idea, they are asking a democratic leader to abandon the promises made to the public. He cannot do this as he has to fulfill all the pledges made to the public at the election," Kotakadeniya said.

He added the true meaning of democracy was for the ruler to fulfill all his electoral pledges, and the President should also keep in mind that future peace negotiations should revolve around maintaining the unitary character of the state."Even if the country maintains a unitary state we can devolve certain powers to the Tamil community. It’s the President’s responsibility not to abandon any of his promises," he said.Meanwhile, Kotakadeniya also charged that the country would not be able achieve lasting peace if the SLMM and Norwegian facilitators remained biased towards the LTTE.

Suicide bomber’s last call from vicinity of Army HQ

The last call which the LTTE female suicide bomber received seconds prior to the explosion at the Army headquarters recently had come from the Kompanna Veediya area, investigators said yesterday.According to detectives, the suicide cadre had used a mobile phone which had a Dialog “My – Five” connection which had been purchased producing a National Identity Card of a soldier, who had gone missing in Elephant Pass in April, 2000. The investigators said the details were established by tracing a telecommunication tower, using the repaired SIM card of the bomber’s phone.

A top CID detective told the Daily Mirror yesterday, that the last call was probably the final order given by an outside ally of the female cadre to execute the mission. Detectives have now found several vulnerable points surrounding the army headquarters from which anyone could easily spy into the premises. Investigators were now trying to ascertain details of the five close contacts of the female suicide cadre.

Bullet proof jackets and helmets for Monitors

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is to provide bulletproof jackets and helmets for all its monitors.SLMM Spokesperson Helen Olafsdottir told The Morning Leader that they had already received approval and have ordered the goods.However, Olafsdottir said the SLMM’s decision did not have anything to do with threats or intimidations."We need to have them just in case the need arises in the future. That’s why we decided to have them," she said.SLMM consists of 57 members from five Nordic countries — Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland and is based in six districts — Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara.

Onion cultivation crippled in Jaffna

Onion cultivation in Jaffna is badly impaired by the prevailing insecurity in the peninsula. Cultivators are unable to send their produce to the South. As a result the price of red onions is coming down day by day. This year the yield of onions is said to be more than the previous years. A kilogram of red onion sold at Rs. 50 to Rs. 60 in the Tinnavely, Maruthanmadam and Chunnakam markets is now sold at Rs. 20 to Rs. 25. The cultivators complain that the buyers from outside Jaffna have stopped purchasing their produce. Vegetables such as brinjal intensively cultivated in the Thenmaradchy area especially in Madduvil near Kodikamam is hard to buy in the interior markets like Tinnavelly, Chunnakam and Maruthanmadam. The producers are frightened to take their vegetables to other fairs in Jaffna in fear of claymore and hand grenade attacks. As a result the price of a kilo of brinjal sold at Rs. 40 has shot up to Rs. 90.

Bribery Commission arrests two Constables

The Bribery Commission yesterday arrested two Police Constables in two separate cases for soliciting bribes. In Moratuwa a constable was taken into custody for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs.3000 from a wine stores owner for not taking action against him. The constable had reportedly arrested this wine stores owner for selling liquor without a license. When the suspect had begged for pardon, the constable had demanded a sum of Rs.3000 for his release. The Constable was arrested in front of the Moratuwa police station yesterday morning.

Meanwhile a constable attached to the Welikada police station was arrested for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs.2500 to release a traffic offender who was caught while driving without a driving license. Both suspects have been produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate and remanded yesterday. Director Investigating Division SSP Neville Guruge is conducting investigations.

Civilians wary of leaving their homes after dark

Civilians in the north are being discouraged from leaving their homes after six in the evening due to security reasons.The Jaffna police said civilians, especially youngsters were advised by the security forces to refrain from leaving their homes at night as they were likely to be attacked or abducted by various groups."The house to house checking has lessened during the past few days, but security personnel are still deployed on every road, and we keep our shops open till late night despite lack of customers," said P. Kumar, a resident.He said that no tuition classes were held at nights and the children were sent home before six."We were not able to leave our houses at all a few days ago. But now the situation is fairly okay. But we cannot say what would happen the next moment," he added.An official at the North East Secretariat On Human Rights (NESOHR) told The Morning Leader that security personnel in government controlled areas continued to harass civilians despite several complaints."People are still moving into LTTE areas and to India due to the recent incidents," the official said.The army however said that people were leading their normal lives."We haven’t heard of anything like this," the army sources said.

30 May 2006

EU blacklists Tamil Tigers as terrorists

The European Union has listed Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a banned terrorist organisation amid a sharp escalation in clashes between the group and the government army, EU diplomats say."One of the consequences is the freezing of the [group's] assets," an envoy said of the decision taken at a regular meeting of EU ministers in Brussels on Monday.The EU freeze on assets could hurt the war chest of the Tigers, which have used past trips to Europe during peace talks to raise funds from expatriate Tamils.

More generally the ban is a diplomatic slap in the face for the group, which has sought to project an image abroad as viable leaders of a de facto state they want recognised as a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils in the island's north and east.The United States, Canada and Britain have already listed the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist group. The EU imposed a travel ban on the group's cadres last September and said then it was considering banning it for "use of violence and terrorism".

The Tigers pulled out of peace talks aimed at ending the island's two-decade civil war last month. They have said in recent days an EU ban would only "exacerbate the conditions of war" and could deter them from resuming peace negotiations.

More than 280 soldiers, police, civilians and rebels have been killed in attacks ranging from suicide bombings to naval clashes since February in what monitors of a 2002 truce and the Tigers themselves now call a "low intensity war".Frustration among Sri Lankans is palpable as many fear a return to a full-scale war that killed more than 64,000 people before the ceasefire and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

"I don't think the ban is going to achieve very much," said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, an analyst with the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives."I can't see any way out of ... moving towards large-scale hostilities."

EU ban will impact the Peace Process - Thamilchelvan

Pointing out that the Liberation Tigers never pulled out from the Geneva-II talks and that it was the obstacles that the Government of Sri Lanka introduced after willfully changing the procedures for the inter-theater transfer of LTTE's military commanders that derailed Geneva-II, S.P. Thamilchelvan, Head of LTTE's Political Wing, said in an interview with TamilNet on Saturday that EU's ban will impact the functioning of the monitors from EU countries, and the "decommissioning or abdication of arms is non-negotiable."

TamilNet: Where does Geneva-II stand?
Thamilchelvan: Post Geneva-I posturing of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) exposed a serious problem with the implementation of the CFA by the GoSL. The Liberation Tigers have never said that they would not participate in Geneva Talks II. The Sri Lankan government blocked us from meeting our commanders, side-stepping our serious concerns in the inter-theatre transport of our key commanders. We were planning to attend Geneva Talks till the last moment, hoping that the travel arrangement would be resolved with the active engagement of the SLMM. But it did not materialize. Other serious concerns on the ground, related to paramilitary and security force violence, have now pre-empted any possibilities of talks to be held in the near future.

TamilNet: Denmark, Sweden and Finland, Nordic countries that are also members of the European Union, are part of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). Do you think they are providing their silent support to the EU’s expected ban?
Thamilchelvan: Members of the SLMM have performed extraordinarily valuable service in the peace efforts and in maintaining adherence of the parties to the Cease Fire Agreement. EU's ban will conflict with the objective functioning of monitors from EU countries, and will damage the trust and good will Tamil people had in the EU countries.

TamilNet: The European Union has demanded that the Liberation Tigers must be prepared to lay down their arms. What is your response?
Thamilchelvan: Armed resistance was forced on us by the Sri Lankan government. For more than 58 years, Tamil people fought for their fundamental rights and freedom using democratic forms of political resistance. Successive Sinhala governments used force and violence to suppress the resistance. Tamil people armed themselves to assert their fundamental and political rights, and to protect their life and property. Demanding the Tigers to lay down arms is tantamount to requesting them to compromise Tamils' future.

Tamil people have achieved remarkable success in their path to freedom: they have fought, provided financial support to acquire skills and materials to build a conventional army, forced the enemy to withdraw from nearly 70 percent of our land, and built administration and law-and-order machinery, close to forming their own state. The international community, therefore, has to come forward to accommodate this prevailing reality with an amicable settlement. Unilaterally assisting and strengthening one party will not lead to any practical solution to the grave issues confronting Sri Lanka.

TamilNet: How much do you think is true of the accusation that the LTTE does not tolerate dissenting opinions in the northeast? What type of freedom of opinion do you accept? Will there be a scenario in which you will allow political parties of paramilitaries to function in the northeast?
Thamilchelvan: Tamil people in the northeast and the Liberation Tigers as the people's national liberation movement have been fighting for the right to self-determination and a honorable peace with justice for the last several decades. The success we have now was obtained in little steps at a time, with enormous sacrifices and hardship. With institutions built to effectively administer a nascent state, the current struggle is more focused toward winning our political rights. In this climate and within the constraints of illiberal democratic rule we are fighting against, the expectation for allowing political activities for paramilitaries is impractical. Besides, who are the paramilitaries? With the support of the Sri Lankan government, the paramilitaries have been working against the aspirations of Tamil people.

TamilNet: While the Sri Lankan government is only prepared to consider devolution within a unitary constitution, the Tamil position has been that they are not prepared to accept a solution within the current Sri Lankan constitution. What is your response to those who say that the hardline positions make a major war inevitable?
Thamilchelvan: The Constitution of Sri Lanka is made for the Sinhala Buddhists. Neither the Tamil people nor the Tamil nation have accepted the Constitution. The Sri Lankan government has used the Constitution to oppress the Tamil people, to reject the aspirations of Tamils, and to violate the fundamental political, human and economic rights of the Tamil people by enacting laws that discriminated against Tamils in their language, religious, educational and economic opportunities.

Colombo, however, continues to use the Constitution to stymie the progress of the peace process. The Post-Tsunami Operational and Management Structure (P-TOMS), an agreement worked out with the assistance of the international community and lending institutions to facilitate the equitable distribution of tsunami aid, was derailed with the support of the Supreme Court.

As historical precedent illustrates and the international community is well aware, the current unitary constitution is not suitable for a multi-lingual and multi-cultural society, and more particularly does not allow the free exercise of Tamil sovereignty. Tamils are, therefore, forced to seek extra-constitutional measures to negotiate from a position of un-compromised sovereignty that will lead towards a political configuration that satisfies Tamils' aspirations.Our struggle along this path will continue in the future.

Co-Chairs meet today

 The Co-Chair group, Norway, US, EU and Japan, will meet in Tokyo today to take stock of the current situation and to do a 'soul searching' of achievements and failures up to date.The group which will meet at a crucial juncture is expected to discuss mainly the situation in the North and East and the next round of talks to which the Government had been trying hard to get the LTTE's consent to participate, for the past few months.

Since the groundbreaking Tokyo Donor Conference in June 2003 where the international community pledged Rs. 4.5 billion as development assistance for the entire country, the Co-Chairs meet from time to time to review the progress of the peace process. Funds were pledged on the premise that there will be steady progress in the peace process. Meanwhile, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told the AP in Tokyo yesterday that the Co-Chairs are expected to urge the LTTE and the Government to take necessary action to stop the escalation of violence after their one-day meeting today.

Japanese Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi, Norway's International Development Minister Eric Solheim, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher and Deputy Director General of EU Commission for External Relations Herve Jouanjean will attend the meeting. Akashi following his four-day visit to Colombo in early May said at today's meeting they will be assessing whether they were on the right path to peace. "We will assess the progress where we started, where we are going and where we should be going." Referring to the Peace Process he said "There are achievements, but many set-backs," adding that they will also weigh whether they have done anything wrong in their efforts to help Sri Lanka achieve peace.

Meanwhile, Indian diplomatic sources brushed off the idea of an elevated role for India in the Co-Chairs meeting saying there was no formal invitation for India by the Japanese Envoy when he visited India following his four-day visit here, as reported in the media. However, authoritative sources went on that despite an additional role in the peace process, India will be committed to extend its hand to Sri Lanka under its Defence Cooperation Pact.

The sources said Sri Lanka is at the top of its military training list. The diplomat however, declined to divulge more details of their defence assistance. India is also playing a leading role, advising the government on a final solution to the ethnic conflict, i.e necessary constitutional changes to be brought in for a suitable Federal structure which is very much being discussed at the time.

India denies sending message to LTTE

 The Indian government Monday clarified that it had not sent any message to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas on the island's floundering peace process.  External affairs ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna was reacting to published reports that Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan passed on a message to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through Norwegian minister Erik Solheim when the two met here Saturday.

'As you know, we have for several years been sharing our assessments with the Norwegians about the developments in Sri Lanka and the peace process. This does not amount to sending any messages to LTTE or any other party,' Sarna said. 'We conveyed to Solheim our well known view that there must be a peaceful, negotiated settlement that is acceptable to all sections of the Sri Lankan society and which preserves the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka,' he added.

The clarification came a day ahead of a meeting of Sri Lanka's donor co-chairs in Tokyo Tuesday.India also lent its support to an early resumption of talks between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE and reiterated its support for a 'peaceful negotiated settlement' of the conflict in the island nation.

'Norway is continuing in its efforts to bring both parties to the table for a political dialogue. We support Norway in its efforts and express the hope that talks can resume at the earliest,' Sarna told reporters. India has politely refused the pressure by the co-chairs - the European Union, Norway, Japan and the US - to join them.

But an official of the Indian embassy will be briefed on the discussions. In his meeting with Narayanan Saturday, Solheim had briefed him on escalating violence in Sri Lanka and again urged New Delhi to play a bigger role in restoring peace and stability in the island nation.  

Balasingham out of next round-Sorce:The Island

The London based LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham will not participate in the second round of the peace talks, to be held in Geneva on June 8, according to LTTE spokesman Daya Master.Speaking over the phone from Kilinochchi, Daya Master told The Island yesterday (29) that Balasingham was under medical treatment and his health would prevent him from participating in the talks.However, all the other senior LTTE leaders such as political wing leader S.P.Thamil Selvan, Peace Secretariat head Pulithevan, and Nadesan will be at the talks he said.The names of others due to attend the talks will be announced in due course he added.

UNHCR: Lanka refugees 'at risk' 
 
The United Nations refugee agency has warned of the dangers facing people who flee Sri Lanka by boat.A statement by the UNHCR said many Sri Lankans were being put at great risk by unscrupulous traffickers operating un-seaworthy and overcrowded vessels.

It said women and children were subject to additional hardship such as sexual abuse or violence.

"While everyone has an inalienable right to claim asylum, UNHCR urges those planning on making the perilous journey to Tamil Nadu, to carefully consider the serious dangers they may face,” said Amin Awad, UNHCR Representative in Sri Lanka.

The refugee agency statement follows the drowning of ten people earlier this month as they tried to escape a surge of violence between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels in Trincomalee.

More than twelve-hundred refugees from Sri Lanka have arrived in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the last four months.

New Colombo Mayor to resign to allow Cooray's appointment to the post

 Veteran United National Party (UNP) politician Sirisena Cooray is reportedly waiting to be appointed the Mayor of Colombo Municipal Council by replacing a candidate of the independent group which contested under the symbol 'spectacle.'

The leader of the independent group has submitted the names of two candidates to the Election Commissioner as the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor. The Election commissioner is to gazette their names after 31st of May and according to the UNP's plan the two are to resign immediately after taking oaths paving way to Sirisena Cooray and Asath Sally to replace them as Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

But the government owned newspapers today reported that the number of independent candidates who had determined not to resign from the list have risen to 12. They argue that only candidates who were in the list could be appointed to the vacated positions.

Meanwhile it is reported that the UNP is trying to come to a deal with the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) which is facing the same problem in Elpitya and Udapalatha Pradeshiya Sabhas. UPFA supported teams won those councils and now the ruling party has faced the same dilemma of appointing their men as chairmen of the councils.

JVP warns UN troops would mean Eelam

The JVP yesterday said it was totally against the bringing in of UN troops to the country and maintained Sri Lanka was not a failed state as claimed by certain sections of the international community and some local political parties.

JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said there was absolutely no reason for the UN to get involved in the national problem. He accused the UNP of being aligned with those international forces trying to introduce the UN peace keeping troops into the country on the basis that Sri Lanka was a failed state.

Japanese special envoy Yasushi Akashi recently said there might be a need for bringing in UN peace keeping troops if the country plunges into war again.“Mr. Akashi made this statement when there was no war declared and the UN Charter does not clearly say as to when it should intervene by positioning its troops in another country,” the JVP leader said.

Mr. Amarasinghe said this could also be a hint that the LTTE might officially declare war so the separatist forces could invite UN troops into the country to make it easier for the LTTE to set up a separate state of Eelam.

High powered mine found

The Army and Police discovered a high powered claymore mine set up in a three wheeler at the Thandikulam Junction yesterday afternoon, Vavunia police said.The mine was fixed above the rear seat of the three wheeler which was intended to crash into one of the Army vehicles that pass the junction often. The Army Bomb Disposal Squad defused the mine.

Two SLA troopers injured in Valaichenai attack

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers of the Kalkuda Army camp on Monday afternoon around 2.45 p.m. on the Pethalai road in the Valaichenai police division, injuring two SLA troopers, Valaichenai police said. Wijeyasekara, 34, and Jakath, 38, the two injured troopers, were rushed to Valaichenai hospital where they are being treated, added the source. The gunmen, hiding themselves in the site, fired on the SLA troopers, wounding an Ottamvadi aluminium utensils trader as well in the shootout, sources said.

The SLA troopers deployed at several sites in this area immediately opened fire indiscriminately, assaulting several passers-by along the Pethalai road. The troopers also arrested many of the civilians and took them to the SLA Harbour Camp on the Kalkuda road, sources in Valaichenai said. Tension prevailed in the area until dusk.Valaichenai is located 28 km north of Batticaloa.

Civilian, EPDP member killed in Jaffna

Two civilians were killed in Jaffna district Monday in the continuing violence that has gripped the Peninsula, sources in Jaffna said. In Erlalai North near the border of Palaly High Security Zone, Subramaniam Thevaraj (alias Ranjan) was killed by unknown gunmen at 10:30 a.m. In Navanthurai inside the Municipal district, Michael Johnson was shot dead by unknown gunmen in front of St.Nicholas Church at 12:30 p.m. Monday, sources said. Subramaniam Thevaraj from Kupilan, was on his way to the Multi-purpose co-operative society to buy provisions when three unidentified youths shot him at close range and escaped, sources said.He was earlier employed in Tamil Eelam Employment and Income Section in Jaffna in the LTTE run civil administration, sources said.

Michael Jesudasan, 40, is a member of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) and a EPDP candidate in the postponed local Jaffna Municipal Council elections.The EPDP, a paramilitary and political party aligned with SL President Mahinda Rajapakse's ruling alliance, is believed to have been gunned down in retaliation to the killings by SLA supported gunmen, civil sources said.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) local election candidates have been targeted by Sri Lanka Army operated gunmen in Jaffna district.Meanwhile, the Vimalasuriar Thehilarajah, who was seriously injured in a shooting incident in Vaddukoddai Sunday, succumbed to his injuries in Jaffna Teaching Hospital, medical sources said.

29 May 2006

US Assistant Secretary Boucher To Visits Sri Lanka On June 1

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on June 1st. Sources say that he will hand over a special message from the United States government to the Sri Lankan government.

Richard Boucher will arrive in Sri Lanka after the donor community co-chairs meeting to be held in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday, May 30. Co-chairs are expected to take vital steps on Sri Lanka's peace process at this meeting. India has declined to participate at the Tokyo meeting on May 30.

Boucher said that US was engaged in an "active dialogue" with India on the developments in Sri Lanka, where the stepped up attacks by Tamil Tigers were particularly "very troublesome," but stressed that it was up to New Delhi to decide the kind of role it wanted to play, implying the US far away from the South Asia region has decided on what role it wants to play.

Tamil Australians in Canberra protest

Hundreds of Tamil Australians have descended on Canberra to protest against renewed violence in northern Sri Lanka.A vocal group brandishing placards with slogans reading "Stop Military Atrocities" and "174 Tamils Killed in Two Months" set up shop in front of Parliament House.Many of the 500 protesters travelled to Canberra by bus from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The protest follows mounting violence in Sri Lanka which has forced thousands of people from their homes and threatened to torpedo a shaky four-year-old truce between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. Amid growing reports of atrocities, the Sri Lankan government has denied charges it has opened fire indiscriminately on unarmed civilians.

Organisers initiated Monday's proceedings with a range of chants such as "Tamils want - peace and justice" before making way for a range of speakers, including federal Labor MP Alan Griffin."If we don't get the process back on track many people are going to die unnecessarily," Mr Griffin told the crowd."It's only through discussions that this matter is going to be resolved, and it needs to happen to ensure that we don't have a continuing escalation of fighting."

The rebels took up arms against the government in 1983, demanding a separate Tamil homeland and claiming discrimination against the Tamils by the majority Sinhalese.More than 65,000 people had been killed before the 2002 ceasefire accord halted 19 years of open warfare.Dr Brian Senewiratne, a relative of former prime minister Solomon Bandaranaike, said he was disappointed by his family, which has featured prominently in Sri Lankan politics over the last five decades.

"It's nothing to be proud of when you come from a family, one family, that has wrecked an entire country," said Dr Senewiratne, who moved to Australia in 1975."I'm not concerned who runs Sri Lanka as long at it is run with justice, equality and dignity for all."I'm not pro-Tiger or anti-Tiger, but pro the Tamil people," he told the crowd.

Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations chairman Arna Pararajasingham called on the Australian government to put diplomatic pressure on Colombo in an attempt to halt the violence."In the last two months alone we have lost 175 Tamil civilians," Mr Pararajasingham said."If this action continues, you will find more Tamils becoming more militant, which could blow out to a full scale war.

"We are after the Australian government to censure the Sri Lankan government over their human rights violations, and to impose economic sanctions if necessary."Mr Pararajasingham said the protest in Canberra would be mirrored by similar events in Canada and Europe later on Monday.

US Tamils call for stop to extra-judicial killings

Pointing out that "Scandinavian Cease Fire Monitors have declared that members of GOSL forces and paramilitaries are involved in extra-judicial killings," a joint press release issued by Tamil organizations in the US Sunday warned, "If the CFA and the peace process are to be saved, extra -judicial killings and other violations of human rights of Tamils must end and those responsible be punished, and paramilitaries be disarmed," and called on the US Administration to "ensure that these are implemented immediately by the Government of Sri Lanka."

Full text of the press release follows:

In recent weeks, hundreds of Tamil civilians, including women and children, have been murdered with impunity, in GOSL controlled areas of predominantly Tamil speaking North East (NE), by Sri Lankan security forces and paramilitaries. In one case, nearly 20 Tamils, including infants, were murdered.

Senior Tamil political and civic leaders and journalists have been favored targets. Many Tamils have also been victims of GOSL aerial bombing and artillery attacks on civilian areas, and of security force supported mob violence aimed at ethnic cleansing of historical Tamil city of Trincomalee.

Scandinavian Cease Fire Monitors have declared that members of GOSL forces and paramilitaries are involved in extra-judicial killings.

Under the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), and as affirmed at the Geneva meeting, GOSL should have disarmed paramilitaries. Activities of paramilitaries are currently the biggest threat to the peace process.

The killings are continuing and Tamil civilians in NE are being terrorized by design. Even international NGOs helping Tamils have recently become targets. Now, GOSL armed forces are forcibly preventing Tamil civilians fleeing for safety to areas in NE outside GOSL control, or to India. GOSL has also failed to provide relief to tens of thousands of newly displaced Tamils in NE

As usual, no one has been charged in the killings. This is hardly surprising since GOSL forces, including Police, are 99% from Sinhala majority, and President Rajapakse and his allies have taken a very hard line, ruling out power sharing or devolution arrangements for Tamils in NE.

Moreover, it was Mr. Rajapakse and his allies who killed in 2005 the US sponsored scheme for distribution humanitarian tsunami aid to Tamils in NE. NE had suffered over 60% of total tsunami damage, on top of the damage from years of civil war.

If the CFA and the peace process are to be saved, extra -judicial killings and other violations of human rights of Tamils must end and those responsible be punished, and paramilitaries be disarmed.

We call on the US Administration to ensure that these are implemented immediately by the Government of Sri Lanka.

Association of Tamil Americans
Federation of Tamil Association of North America (FeTNA)– USA
Illankai Tamil Sangam – California, USA
Illankai Tamil Sangam – Florida, USA
Illankai Tamil Sangam – USA
Ilankai Tamil Sangam – Houston, Texas, USA
Ohio Tamil Association – Ohio, USA
Tamil Refugees Rehabilitation Organization - California
Tamil Youth Organization - USA
Tamil Welfare and Human Rights Committee – District of Columbia, USA
World Tamil Organization - Illinois
World Tamil Women Organization – USA
World Tamil Coordinating Committee – USA

India will do anything to prevent Eelam-Source:The Island

Even as Sri Lanka and the international community are urging India to take a more active role in helping resolve the island-nation’s festering ethnic conflict, weary policy-makers here are grappling with a dilemma: What precisely should India do?"We are still figuring out what we want and what we should do in Sri Lanka," a top policy-maker told The Island here on condition of anonymity. "But we are clear about what we do not want," he said adding: "We do not want Eelam! And we will do whatever it takes to prevent Sri Lanka’s break-up."

This is the clearest warning India has ever given to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a long time not to pursue its long-cherished dream through violent means. The highly-placed source does not wish to be identified. The Indian assertion comes at a time when serious hostilities have broken out in Sri Lanka’s troubled North and East between the LTTE and the Karuna faction on the one hand and the LTTE and the Sri Lankan security forces on the other. The killings since January this year have crossed the 300-mark, and nearly two thousand desperate Tamils have fled from the undeclared virtual war zone there in rickety boats and sought refuge in Tamil Nadu. And more are waiting to flee.

Doing nothing when a friendly neighbour is facing a serious problem is not an option before India. And sending another Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF-II) is also not an option. "These are extreme options. You can rule them out," the policy-maker explained. (India had burnt its fingers rather badly when it sent the IPKF nearly two decades ago to help restore peace in Sri Lanka by disarming the LTTE and other Tamil militant groups in the North and East. While other groups laid down arms, the LTTE had turned against the IPKF and fought against the Indian peace-keepers. In the 32 months the IPKF stayed in Sri Lanka (July 1987 to March 1990), 1,165 Indian soldiers had lost their lives, while 3,011 others were injured in mine blasts—-most of them maimed for life).

Making up with the LTTE is also not an option either: It was LTTE’s woman suicide-bomber Dhanu who assassinated former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally in May 1991 in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. LTTE Boss Velupillai Prabhakaran and his Spy Master Pottu Amman, who were implicated in masterminding Gandhi’s brutal killing, are on India’s Most Wanted list. And New Delhi extended its ban on the LTTE for two more years on May 14.India simply refuses to deal with the LTTE. This is why it has studiously kept away from meetings being called by the Co-Chairs in global capitals to hunt for solutions to help solve the ethnic conflict. However, post-tsunami, India has been doing its bit to help the affected Tamils in the NorthEast as well as the Sinhalese in the South.

Under the present circumstances, India’s direct involvement in any peace facilitation in Sri Lanka is clearly ruled out.However, even while warning the LTTE against making any attempts to break up Sri Lanka in order to achieve Eelam, or a separate "homeland" for Tamils in the island, India is equally keen that the island-nation’s government, politicians, media, intelligentsia and the people at large get their act together and make a reasonable offer to share power within a united and sovereign Sri Lanka the separatist rebels will be hard put to refuse.

After all, just across the narrow strip of sea called the Palk Straits is a good example of a federal democracy at work with all its shortcomings.India is a country where 1.1 billion people—-belonging to 4,365 ethnic groups, speaking 1,652 languages and living in 562 princely states till the British left the subcontinent 59 years ago—-live in a throbbing melting pot called a federal union—-now comprising 35 states and union territories.People in India often wonder: If a federal system can work in India, why can’t it do so in a relatively small nation state like Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka seize 18 vehicles in Jaffna area carrying explosives

Sri Lankan police detained the drivers of 18 vehicles trying to smuggle explosives across a de facto frontier post into the government-controlled part of the Jaffna peninsula, officials said.The private vehicles were stopped at the Muhamalai checkpoint after dogs sniffed out plastic explosives during a routine check, a military official said on condition of anonymity. "We have handed over the vehicles and the passengers to the police," said the officer in Jaffna, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Colombo. "Every vehicle had small quantities of C-4 type plastic explosives."

The suspects together with the vehicles were handed over to local police for further investigation. Passengers were freed but the drivers and the vehicles were detained, police said on Sunday. There have been a spate of Claymore mine attacks against troops and police in the Jaffna peninsula as well as elsewhere in the restive north and east. At least 600 people have been killed in a surge of violence since December despite a truce in place since February 2002

UMP urges Muslims to support TNA
 
The UMP (A political party of Muslim clergy) called upon Muslims to support the TNA to collect signatures from Tamil speaking peoples against E U activities to ban LTTE. UMP leader Moulavi Mubarak Majeed said in letter sent to TNA.He further said in his letter, the Muslims in North and East were abused by the current LTTE leaders. But we look at the at the LTTE as a voice of the Tamil speaking brothers and fighters and fighters for Tamil language and we believe strongly the leaders of LTTE in future will except the Muslims as a unique National ethnic and rites in religion, cultural and political movements.

Cabinet reshuffle postponed

With the controversial Cabinet reshuffle now put on hold, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed surprise over the move by certain party stalwarts to join government ranks, saying he never expected them to do so. Mr. Wickremesinghe had reportedly told MP Ravi Karunanayake in the Parliament lobby recently, about some party stalwarts crossing over to the Government. “I am quite surprised about these plans, as I never imagined them to be in the list of crossovers,” he told Mr. Karunanayake.

According to sources, President Mahinda Rajapaksa postponed the reshuffle, following caution by a group of astrologers, that the timing could be inauspicious for him and his government. Sources said that senior UNP members intend to stop these crossovers by explaining to them, the unstable situation in the Government.“The Government cannot go ahead with the present difficulties. So, we will try to explain the situation and prevent them from crossing over,” the sources said.

Meanwhile, the UNP is to reconsider its unconditional support for the peace process, because the Government is continuing to bait its MPs with perks. The party is to discuss the matter with Mr. Wickremesinghe and formally decide against participating at future All Party Conferences. Earlier, UNP Assistant General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said that there was no need to support the Government’s peace bid if they continue to liquidate the UNP by winning over their MPs.“We have to consider the party as well. We cannot allow them to destroy the party,” he said.

Meanwhile, talks are going on between the government and the JVP to form a coalition. The Daily Mirror learns that President Rajapaksa is keen on having the JVP in his side rather than having UNP dissidents due to strong opposition from government ranks.

Live bullet to NHRC office 
 
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) expressed concern that a leading official has been threatened due to his work in the troubled north. NHRC Jaffna district co-ordinator, Rohitha Priyadarshana, has been sent a bullet in an envelope, last week.The police and the NHRC have begun separate investigations into the matter.The NHRC said its work in recent weeks has become “very sensitive” due to the increasing violence in the north and the east.

Special HR clause

Nimal Punchihewa, Assistant Director of the NHRC told BBC Sandeshaya that a letter of complaint has been handed over to the Jaffna office with a live bullet in it.“There have been threatening calls thereafter".He said the NHRC may become the target of any party involved in violence due to the nature of its investigations.Human rights activists believe that a different trend is emerging as tension escalates.“This is very dangerous as the violence is now increasingly aimed at civilians instead of warring parties,” Punchihewa told bbcsinhala.com.The Commission stressed the need for the Government and the LTTE to enter into a special agreement on respecting human rights in addition to the CFA.

Trader shot dead in Vaddukkoddai

The owner of a communications center located in Moolai road in Vaddukkodai, Valigamam, Jaffna was shot dead and a friend of his seriously injured by gunshot wounds at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, sources in Jaffna said. Gunmen, alleged to be belonging to paramiitaries working with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) intelligence, bound the hands of the two, took them to an area behind the shop, and sprayed the men with bullets from short range, sources said. Pooranam Sabesan, 26, was killed on the spot and his friend Thehilarajah, 26, was wounded in the attack.Thehilarajah has been taken to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and doctors are performing urgent surgery to save his life, medical sources said.

Meanwhile, unknown gunmen who visited another video shop close to Sabesan's buisness, threatened the employees by brandishing a hand grenade, took their photographs and disappeared from the area.Tensions prevails in the area, and local residents and business owners are shocked and intimidated by the threats and killing.

ACHC protest to Dutch magazine

The All Ceylon Hindu Congress (ACHC) yesterday expressed concern over the use of Lord Krishna’s picture in an advert for toilet detergent, published in ‘Happiness’ magazine in the Netherlands. “It has been brought to our notice that on page 38 of the ‘Happiness’ magazine of May 14, 2006, in your country, Lord Krishna’s picture is appearing in an advert for toilet detergents, which hurts the feelings of Hindus,” it said in a statement.

“They responded in a sincere way and explained how they felt about publishing the picture of Lord Krishna in their magazine,” it said. “It has never been their intention to hurt the feelings of the Hindu community or insult any religion or person. Only after they received a phone call from a Hindu Federation in the Netherlands, did they realized that it could be considered disrespectful or insulting,” it said. “The magazine has been replaced and the picture immediately removed from their website once they realised how the picture was conceived”, it said.

In a phone conversation with the Ambassador in the Netherlands, the ACHC urged to him to take up the matter with the appropriate authorities in the country and ensure that this advertisement was withdrawn.

LTTE protests appointment of military officer as Trincomalee GA

S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sunday protested to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the east port town, the appointment of a retired Major General of the Sri Lanka Army as the Government Agent of the Trincomalee district by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), LTTE sources said. Elilan said that the civil administration of the district will be militarized by the appointment. Mr.Elilan told the SLMM that the GoSL has already appointed a retired Naval Officer as the North East Provincial Governor who is now administering the North East Provincial Council, sources said.Retired Major General Ranjith Silva is to assume duties as the new Government Agent of the Trincomalee district this week, district secretariat sources said.

28 May 2006

Norway wants Sri Lanka to show 'political maturity'

Sri Lanka is likely to face intense international pressure to implement the pledges it made in Geneva if and when the European Union outlaws the Tamil Tigers. This is the impression Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim gave at his meeting with India's National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan here Saturday.

In his discussion, Solheim - the architect of the 2002 Norway-brokered ceasefire pact - said while there was criticism against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on various counts, Colombo also needed to put its act together.Sri Lanka, Solheim told Narayanan, needed to show 'statesmanship' and 'political maturity' and generate confidence at large by fulfilling the promises it made during the first round of peace talks with the Tigers in Geneva in February.

Solheim's comments follow similar views expressed by other dignitaries linked to the Sri Lankan peace process when they visited New Delhi.In February, the LTTE promised to halt its campaign of violence while the government agreed to disarm all armed groups other than its security forces in its areas in the northeast. Both pledges remain unfulfilled.There is a feeling in the international community that while the LTTE needs to face the music over its continued use of terror tactics, the government should not get away with the many killings attributed to its security forces or armed Tamil groups aligned with it.

India has told Sri Lanka repeatedly that it also needs to come out with a credible political solution within a federal framework to counter the goal of an independent state still pursued by the LTTE.Solheim, who continues to guide the peace process although Norway's special envoy to Sri Lanka is Jon Hannsen-Bauer, warned that both Colombo and the LTTE were 'playing with fire'.

He was referring to the unending killings and counter-killings in Sri Lanka, mainly in the Tamil-majority northeast. The victims include both suspected supporters of the LTTE and those opposed to the group.Despite the setbacks to the peace process, Norway is still trying its best to find out how the LTTE and the government can meet again to continue their stalled dialogue, the second round of which was due in April, also in Geneva, but got indefinitely postponed.

Solheim, who arrived here from Colombo, left for Tokyo to attend a meeting of the co-chairs to the Sri Lankan peace process that groups Japan, the US, Norway and the European Union.The Tokyo meeting is expected to coincide with a ban on the LTTE by the European Union. The LTTE has warned that it will reconsider its participation in the ceasefire agreement if this happens.

Norway, the peace facilitator, is playing a tightrope walk. It does not want to offend either side and at the same time does not want to play favourites despite criticism mainly from Colombo that it has been partial to the LTTE.Tiger supporters say the group is upset with Norway for what it feels is Oslo's inability to prevent a European Union ban.In the eyes of the international community, such a ban would have to be followed by concrete measures from the Sri Lankan government to show that its end objective was not just the ban.

More than any other country, India - which this month extended its two-year ban on the LTTE first imposed in 1992 - is keen on a lasting political settlement in Sri Lanka. Narayanan conveyed this to Solheim Saturday.

Norway invites govt. and LTTE for talks in Oslo

The LTTE yesterday decided it’ll respond to an invitation extended by Norway to visit Oslo for discussions with a high powered government delegation on the operations of the SLMM only after the outcome of the co-chairs meeting in Norway and the decision of the EU on the Tiger ban is known on May 30.Norway’s International Development Minister Erik Solheim extended a written invitation to both the government and the LTTE to visit Oslo for talks on June 8 and 9 to discuss the operations of the SLMM.

The invitations were extended to President Mahinda Rajapakse and LTTE Leader Velupillai Pirapaharan calling on them to send two high-powered delegations to the meeting. The LTTE thinking to delay its decision on the invitation was based on the belief that the government would otherwise use the possibility of talks to seek more aid at the Tokyo donor confab.

Chief LTTE negotiator Anton Balasingham told yesterday the LTTE’s decision to accept or not the invitation of Norway will depend on the outcome of the co-chairs meeting in Tokyo and the EU decision on the proscription of the LTTE.Meanwhile, LTTE Political Wing Leader, S. P. Tamilselvan also informed Norway’s Special Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer yesterday that the LTTE would inform its decision on the invitation after May 30.

Spokesperson of the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, Erik Nurnberg confirmed to The Sunday Leader that the invitation was extended to the government and the LTTE to visit Oslo on June 8 and 9 to discuss the operations of the SLMM.

SRI LANKA: Violence against Tamils escalates;Source: Green Left Weekly

“Sri Lanka’s military is now killing Tamil civilians with abandon”, the Tamil Guardian stated in its May 17 editorial, following a wave of violence that has left dozens of civilians dead. The violence has sparked fears of a reopening of the bloody two-decade conflict that ended with a February 2002 ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has led a long struggle for Tamil self-determination.

On May 4, seven young people on their way to a birthday party died instantly when soldiers attacked them with rocket-propelled grenades near Nelliyadi junction in Vadamaradchi. The victims were from a nearby village, Rajakiramam, where two auto-rickshaw drivers were recently killed. TamilNet reported that army and police officers have been pressuring the parents of the killed drivers to issue statements saying the victims were LTTE cadres.

The bodies of eight young people who disappeared from Manthuvil in Thenmaradchy after attending a temple festival on May 7 were later found dead in the forest. The youths had stayed in the temple overnight due to a curfew. TamilNet reported that on May 13, eight people were gunned down in a house in Allaipiddy, in Mandaithivu islet. Among the dead were a four-month-old baby and a four-year-old boy, along with their parents. Another man later died in hospital. According to TamilNet, relatives said troops from the Sri Lankan Navy had been harassing the families, demanding use of their two-storey building for the military. Hundreds of families fled Allaipiddy village for LTTE-held areas following the massacre.

The same day, three people were murdered in a separate incident when paramilitaries entered a family’s home and fired indiscriminately at occupants. N.R. Wickiramasingham, chairperson of the Victorian Tamil Refugee Settlement Committee, told Green Left Weekly that the violence continues and that on average three Tamils are being killed every day; 80% are under 23 years of age.

Wickiramasingham said Sri Lankan media reports of the killings refer to “unidentified people” as being responsible, but that the armed gangs conducting the attacks are under the control of the Sri Lankan military. The Tamil Guardian accused the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMN) of silence over the killings, and condemned its withdrawal, under pressure from the Sri Lankan government, of an earlier claim of government security forces’ involvement in extrajudicial killings. The paper also accused the SLMN of a preoccupation with the “character of the LTTE and its leadership”, when the body’s role is to monitor the ceasefire agreement.

According to Wickiramasingham, “the monitoring force from Norway is only 82 people — they can’t stop the violence”. Wickiramasingham told GLW that foreign governments have “kept quiet” about the situation and that the media has been silent. “Not a single Australian paper printed even three lines” on the violent attacks that broke out in early May. Moves by the European Union to classify the LTTE as a terrorist organisation is a “blockage for peace talks”, Wickiramasingham said. Peace negotiations take place in the EU countries, and if the LTTE is banned, its representatives won’t be able to participate.

Thousands of refugees are homeless, living in churches and schools (which means the schools can’t operate). The refugees are desperately short of food, water and other necessities, and rely on non-government organisations to survive. “The government won’t support refugees in Tamil areas. The government is ignoring the problem”, Wickiramasingham explained. “Many refugees hire boats illegally and try to cross to India. Thirteen died last week when their boat sank.”

According to Wickiramasingham, “Tamils are ready to talk to the Sri Lankan govenrment” to resolve the conflict. He called on foreign governments, including the Australian government, to pressure the Sri Lankan government to “sort out the problem and stop the killings”. Fuelling concerns that the Sri Lankan government intends to resume full-scale war against the Tamils, new anti-democratic laws are soon to be discussed by parliament, including military conscription, media censorship and suppression of civil rights.

JVP back in Govt. fold?

It seems likely that the JVP is preparing to join President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government shortly. Although no final decision has been taken, a section of the parliamentary group is believed to be favouring the move against the backdrop of Rajapakse increasingly seeking the Marxist party’s return to government.

The Sunday Island learns that Rajapakse recently discussed this matter with JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe and Parliamentary Group Leader Wimal Weerawansa.The JVP quit the administration last June over the government signing a joint tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction agreement with the LTTE.

The JVP has so far resisted Rajapakse’s call and their differences led the SLFP-led PA and the JVP to contest the recent local government elections separately, thereby allowing the UNP to secure over 35 bodies.Political sources said that even if the JVP rejoined the government, it would not accept portfolios. Earlier it held four ministries, including fisheries and agriculture.

The JVP parliamentary group recently got reduced to 38 after a Gampaha District MP resigned due to illness. His place has been filled by an SLFP member as the two parties contested on UPFA ticket at the last parliamentary polls.

Government and JVP sources acknowledged the need to join hands amidst calls for a direct intervention by the UN triggered by recent remarks attributed to Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi.The JVP wants the government to raise this with the Japanese government. Amarasinghe recently criticised Akashi’s call when he received the Japanese envoy at their party headquarters at Pelawatte.

The JVP intends to launch a series of meetings against the call for the deployment of foreign forces, thereby leading to the Cyprus-type division of the country. The first meeting is scheduled to be held on June 7.JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva, Wimal Weerawansa, Anura Kumara Dissanayake and K.D. Lal Kantha are expected to lead the campaign.

The JVP also opposes the overseas deployment of Sri Lankan forces under UN banner. About 1,000 Lankan troops are deployed in the Caribbean island of Haiti with the Brazilian-led UN forces tasked with protecting the US backed administration.

The Sunday Island learns that Rajapakse remains confident of reaching an agreement with the JVP regarding ongoing efforts to resolve the crisis on the basis of a federal solution. Although the JVP vehemently rejected recent reports that it was ready to accept a federal model, the UNP reiterated that the JVP was secretly negotiating with the LTTE.

Political sources said that the return of the JVP into the government would help Rajapakse to reach a consensus with his Marxist ally who contributed substantially to his election last November.

LTTE targeting VVIP, President warns

President Mahinda Rajapakse has warned his ministers to take adequate precautions in the next few days since the LTTE plans to hit a VVIP target. The President's warning came at the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, May 24.

The government had earlier received information from the intelligence services that the LTTE may use a police truck or motorbike to carry out the attack dressed as policemen. All police stations have also been alerted of the possible Tiger strategy and warned to be extra vigilant.

President Rajapakse told his ministers he had credible information the LTTE was planning to target a VVIP and that confirmation of this information was received from France, Germany and England.

"The ministers must be very mindful when moving about these days. We cannot be afraid of the LTTE or be cowed down by such threats, but all necessary security measures must be taken," the President has said.

He had also told the ministers according to reports received the LTTE was planning something big and may target some other places too. The President further said the situation was discussed at the security council meeting and necessary steps taken to ensure the security of the city.

Four suicide cadres dispatched to Tangalle to assassinate President- Military intelligence

Military intelligence sources have uncovered that the LTTE has sent 4 suicide cadres to President's home town of Tangalle to assassinate the President.The same sources said that two suicide cadres have also been sent to Batticaloa after the killing of senior tiger leader Ramanan to assassinate a senior defence officer.

President Rajapaksa usually spends weekends in his ancestral home in Tangalle with his constituents unless there is an urgent duty to attend to, but his visits to Tangalle has become less frequent in wake of him becoming a prime target of the LTTE.

Due to intense LTTE threat on the President's life, his security has been further intensified and intelligence services have instructed him to move to the President's House from Temple Trees.At Wednesday's cabinet meeting the President had alerted Ministers on LTTE threats and requested them to be more concerned about their security.

Sri Lanka says no to United Nation peace keepers

The Sri Lankan government said on Saturday that it had no plans to invite a UN peacekeeping force."There is no proposal for deployment of United Nations forces," said the Minister of Information, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa in a statement issued here.Opposition United National Party (UNP) MP, Dr Rajitha Senaratne, had made a statement that if the government failed to curb violations of the ceasefire, deployment of a UN peacekeeping force might become inevitable.Reacting to this, Yapa wondered if the UNP was in an "unholy alliance with the LTTE to divide the country. "The UNP MP's statement on UN forces was "causing irreparable damage to the sovereignty and unity of the country," the Minister said.He wondered if the rest of the UNP shared Dr Senaratne's view.

Colombo imposes embargo on cement, steel, limits fuel supply to North

Sri Lankan defense authorities, on Friday, banned the transportation of cement and steel to North. Government Agents (GAs) in Jaffna and Vavuniya have been informed of the decision by the Defense Ministry in contravention of the provisions in the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement, political sources said. More than 20 lorries loaded with cement have been stopped at Omanthai checkpost Friday and are being held at the checkpost awaiting instructions from Defense Ministry, sources said.
Meanwhile the fuel supply to the area is also curtailed to the north. In Jaffna, most of the filling stations are issuing very limited quantity of fuel to motorists, residents from Jaffna said.

Construction works already underway in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar and Mullaitivu have come to a halt with the introduction of the ban, sources at GA office in Jaffna and Vavuniya said.February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement specifies that 10 000 bags of cement must be allowed per month to the private commercial market in addition to allowing the necessary cement through Government Agent for the reconstruction and rehabiliation and governmental work in the NorthEast.

The CFA agreement also specifies that the iron rods for building constructions will be brought into the LTTE controlled areas under licenses issued by the GA.A decade long economic embargo imposed on the region by successive Sri Lankan regimes before the Ceasefire Agreement in February 2002, caused severe hardships to the people in Vanni. Vanni district TNA MP Sivanathan Kishore said he has lodged a complaint to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday regarding the ban.

Irregular tender for cannons
 
Speculation is rife of an influential overseas arms supplier having being given the opportunity to bid for a major Defence Ministry tender despite the fact that the company is not registered under the four categories of suppliers with the ministry. Well informed sources identified the company as a UK-based one. This comes against the backdrop of another overseas firm receiving the same documents despite being forced to return US$ 4 million it accepted as the advance for the supply of cannon for the navy.The government cancelled the transaction following allegations over the serviceability of the cannon.The recent tender is also for the acquisition of the urgently needed cannon.

Sri Lanka Eight tourists feared dead in Wilpattu National Park blast

Eight Sri Lankan tourists were feared killed after a suspected land mine exploded as they were tracking wild elephants in a national park near Tamil Tiger rebel territory, an official said on Sunday. Another group of Sri Lankan tourists in the park heard a large blast deep inside the park on Saturday, and went to the site to find a jeep in a ditch and body parts on the road, but police, military and wildlife officials were still on the way to the site.

"We believe that including our interpreter, eight people have been killed -- all locals," Dayananda Kariyawasam, director general of the Wildlife Department, told Reuters from the fringes of the Wilpattu National Park wildlife sanctuary in the northwest of the country. "Another group of tourists heard the blast and went to see, and informed that they have seen parts of the bodies and vehicle parts," he added.

The blast occurred around 50 km (30 miles) from the park entrance, and search teams waited until daybreak on Sunday to head to the site to avoid encountering wild animals in the dark. It was unclear whether the suspected land mine dated from before a 2002 ceasefire that halted a two-decade civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or whether it was newly planted.

The northern border of the park is around 15-20 miles from the southern border of the rebels' de facto state in the north and east of the island. "It could be an old land mine, but I seriously doubt that since there was a tracker (checking the route)," said Kariyawasam.

The incident, which Kariyawasam said would be the first mine blast to hurt tourists inside a Sri Lankan national park, comes amid a surge in attacks and clashes between the military and the rebels that some fear could spiral into all-out war. The Tigers, who analysts say have focused recent attacks on the military and government officials, were not immediately available for comment on the incident.

India asked to send ship to fetch Sri Lankan refugees

A political leader in Tamil Nadu sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers has urged India to dispatch a ship to Sri Lanka to ferry hundreds of Tamil civilians he said were waiting to escape escalating violence in the island nation.  With the number of Tamil refugees arriving in Tamil Nadu by boats approaching the figure of 2,000, P. Nedumaran said it was time New Delhi stepped in by sending a ship to Sri Lanka like it did following the 1983 anti-Tamil killings in Colombo.

'(Then Indian prime minister) Indira Gandhi sent two ships in 1983 to Sri Lanka,' Nedumaran told IANS at his modest office-cum-residence here. 'India should send a ship to Sri Lanka now.'India must also warn the Sri Lankan government to stop the killing of Tamils,' Nedumaran added, alluding to the large number of killings and counter-killings going on in that country's northeast.

Indian officials say that some 1,800 Sri Lankan Tamils have landed on the shores of Tamil Nadu since Jan 12 after risky sea journeys from Mannar in the island's northwest. A few were reportedly drowned in the choppy waters dividing India and Sri Lanka.The arrivals dipped in February, coinciding with the Geneva peace talks between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Colombo, but picked up after the April 25 suicide bomb attack on Sri Lanka's army chief had led to heavy shelling and bombing of Tamil areas in Trincomalee.

Two-thirds of these refugees arrived in May, coinciding with a bloody month in Sri Lanka's northeastern province where a dramatic upsurge in violence has fuelled fears of war held in check by a 2002 ceasefire agreement. Most Tamils reaching India are from Trincomalee, where Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims live in near equal numbers.As in the 1980s and 90s, most refugees are being housed in the Mandapam camp in the coastal district of Rameswaram. After their registration, the Indian authorities meet their minimal needs.

The refugees have blamed attacks by the Sri Lankan military for their exodus although a few have also told the police in Tamil Nadu that they did not want their children to be recruited by the LTTE. They have also told Indian officials that many more Tamils were waiting to move to India.Nedumaran, leader of the Tamil Nationalist Movement, put that number at 'thousands', saying they were not able to come because of paucity of boats and boatmen willing to risk the illegal journey from Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu. This is the reason, he said, why India needed to send a ship to that country.

Nedumaran, who is known to enjoy the trust of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, was jailed for 18 months in Tamil Nadu in 2002-04 on charges of speaking out in support of the Tamil Tigers. A former state Congress party chief, Nedumaran enjoys a good rapport with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.Nedumaran also found fault with New Delhi for not consulting Sri Lankan Tamil leaders sympathetic to the LTTE while framing its policies vis-à-vis Colombo.

'India consults Norway regularly. Sri Lankan presidents and prime ministers come to India regularly. What about the Tamil viewpoint?'We may have problems interacting with the LTTE (since they are banned in India). Fine, let us leave them aside. What about the Tamil MPs?' Nedumaran asked, referring to the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

'They have repeatedly sought a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They conveyed the request through the Indian high commission in Colombo. They told (former external affairs minister K.) Natwar Singh. Even (MDMK leader) Vaiko carried a letter from them to the prime minister. But nothing has happened.'Nedumaran, at whose house in Madurai Prabhakaran stayed for over six months more than two decades ago, said it was wrong to ask the LTTE to cut down the violence when Colombo was not carrying out its promise to dismantle high security zones in Jaffna.

The international community, he complained, was all the time criticising the LTTE while overlooking the attacks on Tamils by the Sri Lankan security forces.'The international community has failed. Norway and the US have failed. The European Union is saying it will ban the LTTE. Have they asked the same questions to Sri Lanka?'India has also failed. It should have pulled up both sides. You journalists too have failed to highlight the atrocities of the Sri Lankan government.'

SLA cordons, searches Jaffna Teaching Hospital building

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and Police cordoned off and searched the cafeteria area functioning inside the Jaffna Teaching Hospital premises for more than an hour from 12:30 p.m., Saturday, sources said. One cafeteria employee was taken to Jaffna Police station for further inquries according to sources. Police also took documents including the account books of the cafeteria for further examinations, hospital authorities said.In addition to providing food for the hospital patients and visiting relatives, a communication center is also located in the cafteria building.The cafeteria is administered by the Patients Wefare Organization, hospital sources said.

Two young boys killed in SLA attack on civilian tractor

A 12 and a 15-year-old boys were killed when Sri Lanka Army soldiers, who had moved into Thikiliveddai, an LTTE controlled border area, beyond the Kinnayadi lagoon, Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., ambushed a tractor with farmers. Three civilians were wounded, Daya Mohan, Head of Batticaloa Political Wing of the LTTE said. The victims were identified, Kanapathy Balu, 12, and Vinayagamoorthy Nanthan, 15. The wounded were admitted to LTTE's paramedical unit and later transferred to Chenkalady hospital in SLA controlled Eravur. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials inspected the explosion site around 6:15 p.m.

27 May 2006

Solheim to discuss Lanka crisis with India 
 
Amid fears of a major escalation of violence in Sri Lanka, Norway's top peace envoy Erik Solheim is arriving today after a visit to Colombo to hold talks with Indian officials on the latest situation in the island nation. Solheim, who held talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse for over two hours in Colombo yesterday, will meet National Security Adviser M K Narayanan here to brief him on his assessment of the situation in the island nation.

The Norwegian International Development Minister also met several religious leaders in Colombo. His Deputy Jon Hanssen-Bauer is in Sri Lanka for the last two days, meeting government officials and LTTE representatives in a bid to prevent situation from sliding back to full scale hostilities. Observing that the situation in Sri Lanka is "delicately poised", External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters here that as per the practice, Solheim will visit Delhi on his return from the island nation to brief the Indian side on present situation there.

He is expected to brief Narayanan on his efforts to bring the LTTE back to the negotiating table.The visits are an important part of preparations for the meeting of four donor countries -- US, EU, Norway and Japan -- on Sri Lanka in Tokyo on Tuesday next. From Delhi, Solheim will travel for the meeting that will review the island nation's faltering peace process.Ahead of his visit to Colombo, Solheim said, "The situation in Sri Lanka is complicated. It is important not to have unrealistic expectations of the meetings."

US engaged in active dialogue with India on Sri Lanka: Boucher 
 
The US has said it was engaged in an "active dialogue" with India on the developments in Sri Lanka, where the stepped up attacks by Tamil Tigers were particularly "very troublesome," but stressed that it was up to New Delhi to decide the kind of role it wanted to play.

The violence in Sri Lanka was "very, very disturbing" and the stepped up LTTE attacks showed that the rebels were proceeding towards war rather than keeping the focus on peace talks with the Colombo government, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher said in an interview to at the State Department here.

Asked what role the us would like New Delhi to play, Boucher replied: "That is for India to decide. That is where we have an active dialogue with India but ultimately how much India should do, how it wants to work with the international community that will be for India to decide."

"First of all we are interested in the Indian view. Second we are interested in Indian thoughts on how the international community should proceed but we are also looking to enhance our cooperation with India," the senior State Department official said.

The US supported the efforts of Norway to get the parties -- Sri Lankan government and the LTTE -- back to the peace table, he said, adding Washington was looking forward to discussions in Tokyo next week with other countries and at which time it might make a more specific comment on where the situation in the island nation was heading.

Bauer to meet LTTE today

The government is not sending any special message to the LTTE leadership through the Norwegian peace facilitators who will be visiting Kilinochchi today, the government peace secretariat said yesterday.Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer will meet LTTE political head S.P. Thamilselvan at the LTTE peace secretariat this morning as part of the latest attempt by the facilitators to get the second round of Geneva talks back on track.

Peace Secretariat Deputy Head Ketheesh Loganathan said Mr. Bauer would not be carrying any message from the government to the LTTE.Mr. Loganathan said Mr. Bauer met several leaders on Thursday and the talks mainly focused on the upcoming co-chairs meeting, the decision taken by the co-chairs at the last gathering in Oslo and the role of Norway as peace facilitator.

Start talks now for devolution - Anglican Bishop de Chickera

A highly respected religious prelate warned yesterday that the northeast was on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and called for an immediate return to the next round of peace talks at which the principle of devolution should be addressed.Colombo’s Anglican Bishop the Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera after a vist to the North and Trincomalee said, contrary to what anti-peace forces imagined, the desire and drive for peace grew when conflict increased and he proposed several immediate steps if these aspirations were to be consolidated;

Bishop Duleep said, “I have just returned from one of my regular pastoral visits to the North. I made a similar visit to Trincomalee three weeks ago.The situation in these areas is tense and dangerously volatile; various groups are engaged in a struggle for ideological, political and geographical space which invariably spills into the routine lives of civilians. Streets are deserted after 2 p.m. and the people live in fear of each other.

“Tamil civilians in particular are helpless and fear all sides. They fear being suspected as LTTE sympathizers or as military informants. They fear the struggle for power between the LTTE and other armed Tamil groups most of whom for very obvious reasons often happen to be either relations, neighbours or associates. They fear for their adolescent children who may be conscripted by the LTTE or arrested by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.

The civilians in these areas have no one to turn to. Subtle intimidate and whisper campaigns encompass all. Independent Tamil voices are reluctant to speak for fear of being caricatured as ‘the enemy’.I suspect that it was this prevailing culture that prevented Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole from assuming duties as the Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University. Contrary to some elements or public opinion, his being a Christian had little to do with this resistance. He had much to offer academically and wanted very much to serve the University and the people of Jaffna. He should have been given a chance to prove himself.

In Trincomalee and in Jaffna the presence of an almost entirely non Tamil security Force providing security, though inevitable in the circumstances, creates a worrying polarization. The difficulty that the Forces face is to convey that their presence is meant to provide security for all civilians as well as for the State apparatus and machinery. This is much more difficult in Jaffna, where all civilians are Tamils (there is now a very small Muslim community as well) and all Sri Lankan Armed Forces are non-Tamil. In Trincomalee rightly or wrongly the Tamil civilians have a perception that the Forces are friendlier with the Sinhala population than with the Tamil population.

Much of this, no doubt, has to do with the cultural cum communication gap. Previous communal prejudices and, the dynamic between authority and powerlessness emerge to further widen and intensify this gap when there is a return to violence. The Sinhala soldiers in Jaffna appear apprehensive and ironically vulnerable. When on duty on the roads, they stand at intervals sometimes of 300 to 400 metres in a clearly non-friendly atmosphere. At times their posture of crouching beside walls or standing behind trees, no doubt a requirement from a military perspective, adds to this atmosphere of a presence that distances. The Tamil civilians on the other hand seem to distance themselves from the soldiers possibly due to resentment of their presence or fear of being misunderstood.

I visited the Allaipiddy island and saw for myself the tension that prevailed after the gruesome massacre of civilians, eight of whom belonged to one family. Surviving members of this family witnessed the killing and are likely to be able to identify the killers.

The movement of civilians from this island following a threatening order presumably by a group adds to the misery of this people and to the complex nature of human suffering. In such instances the people have little desire to move and it is only a speedy investigation into the massacre and deliberate measures of dialogue and trust building between the people and the Sri Lanka Armed Forces that will somewhat stem the fear and panic and dislocation of an already previously displaced people.

In these circumstances I was disturbed to discover that reputed INGOs who we thought were here to protect the most vulnerable seem unable to do what most thought they were here to do. It appears that either their mandate or their interpretation of this mandate prevents them from taking options when necessary to protect the afflicted and the frightened. An apparent policy that seeks concurrence from ‘both sides’ in the discharge of their mandate is hopelessly inadequate and requires review. In today’s context of a subtle and deepening conflict, that also tends to be unreasonably trivial at times, such concurrence could remain illusive thus neutralizing the role of such INGOs.

The exception to this stance is the presence of a small INGO - the Non Violence Peace Force. The policy of this small team of foreign and local peace workers is to visibly stand by victims of violence, and needs commendation.

It is for this reason that the attack by an armed group on their office in Muttur must be condemned. This act has been done by forces that see their presence as a threat. Consequently, all peace loving people must do all they can to appreciate and endorse such vulnerable groups whose mandate is to stand with the vulnerable, and whose only weapon is their moral strength to be able to do so.

Contrary to what anti-peace forces imagine, the desire and drive for peace grows when conflict increases. In the context of where we stand today, the following requires attention if these aspirations are to be consolidated;

I. The speedy investigation of atrocities and action against the perpetrators. Such action mostly can counter fear and build trust,

2. A prompt return to normalcy. E.g the functioning of schools, work places, public transport, etc must be ensured.

3. A more people friendly approach in the provision of security within the realistic parameters of the ground situation.

4. A clear demonstration by the Government of Sri Lanka that the three armed services and the police and the STF are its only authentic representatives for purposes of ensuring security and maintaining law and order.

5. Opportunities need to be provided for Independent Tamils to voice grievances, express concerns and offer solutions. For this a continuing dialogue with the authorities is necessary. Thankfully there are still some outstanding persons in authority who are sensitive to this need. The present Governor of the North and Fast is one such person and his presence and thoughtful initiatives need commendation.

6. An immediate return to the next round of peace talks at which the principle of devolution should be addressed.”

World Bank official killed 
 
The World Bank has extended condolences to the family of murdered engineer Ratnam Ratnarajah.Ratnarajah, 48, Deputy Project Director of the North East Irrigated Agriculture Project II (NEIAP II), was shot dead at his home in Batticaloa on Friday.

His driver, Chandrasekaran Sivanesan, has been admitted to Batticaloa Teaching hospital with serious gunshot wounds.Ratnarajah is the most senior government official to be gunned down in the east in recent times.

Karuna cadres killed

Two unidentified assailants came in a motorcycle has shot Ratnarajah in front of his house when he came for the lunch, police said.Meanwhile, Tamil Tigers said they killed three members from the Karuna faction in a gun battle in Muttur.Trincomalee district LTTE political wing leader Elilan told journalist RG Dharmadasa that they arrested two more members of the Karuna faction.

Fighting erupted in Chellanagar in LTTE-controlled area, Elilan said, but refused to reveal the names of the deceased.There was no comment from the Karuna faction.Sri Lanka Army officials in the area told BBC Sandeshaya that they could not comment on violence in the LTTE-held area.

Vaiko seeks Prime Minister's intervention in Lankan issue

MDMK General Secretary Vaiko today sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in stopping the "Sri Lankan military's attack in Tamil areas of that country" and providing food, clothing and first aid to the refugees reaching the Indian coast.He said the people were fleeing Sri Lanka due to the "atrocious attacks" of the Sri Lankan army in Tamil areas.

"It was a matter of terrible shock that innocent women and children have been killed in this murderous attack, the MDMK chief said. More than 2,000 refugees have reached Tamil Nadu and many more were waiting to migrate to India for safety and security," he said in a letter to the Prime Minister."What is happening in Sri Lanka is not an internal problem of that country. It is a humanitarian problem of international concern," Vaiko added.

He said five Tamil refugees were drowned mid-sea recently due to bad weather and paucity of steady boats. Another fibre glass boat was washed ashore without occupants this week.Bad weather, unsteady sea-crafts, fear of confiscation of boats by India were making things extremely difficult for the innocent victims of "war", the MDMK leader said.

Appealing to the Centre to take effective measures to protect the lives and welfare of refugees reaching the Indian coast, Vaiko urged the Indian Coast Guard to provide a 24-hour vigil in our territorial waters.Vaiko also suggested that NGOs could be roped in to assist the officials who dealt with refugees.

M'sia Can Urge LTTE To Start Negotiation, Says Sri Lankan Envoy

Malaysia can help persuade the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to resume negotiations with the Sri Lankan government to resolve the 30-year civil war that has claimed more than 64,000 lives, a Sri Lankan envoy said Saturday.

"A friendly country like Malaysia can send a message to LTTE to ask them to come to the negotiation table and I'm sure Malaysia has some influence and that will definitely help," Karunatilaka Amunugama, head of Sri Lanka's senior officials delegation to the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau (NAM-Cob) Ministerial Meeting, told Bernama here today.

"The Malaysian government can send a statement or a message to the LTTE or the friends of the LTTE that the time has come to stop the killing...come to the table to discuss the issue."We would like to see them face-to-face and discuss the issues to bridge the demands and what we can do. If you don't come to table we can't discuss," he added.

He said Sri Lanka wanted the international community to pressure LTTE, which is fighting for autonomy for Tamil-speaking regions, to give up their military struggle that has destroyed the nation, once considered equal to first-world countries and even former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew envied the tourist-island for its economic success in the 70's.

Karunatilaka said the international community could also help to halt their fund-raising activities, especially in Europe where many Tamils are residing as refugees after fleeing Sri Lanka during the peak of the civil war."One way to pressure them is to have restrictions in countries where they raise funds," he said, adding that most of the LTTE's fundings to support their war against the Sinhalese government come from the Tamil diaspora.

The LTTE, a military and political organisation, started waging violent attacks against the government in 1983 and several negotiations to settle the dispute had proven futile.After the Norwegian-brokered peace process hit a snag, the LTTE stepped up their attacks recently, mainly targeting military personnel.Karunatilaka said there was no other way to settle the conflict except through proper negotiations and foreign governments could play a role by pressuring the LTTE.

President visits Army Commander

President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid a surprise visit to Army Commander Sarath Foneseka who is under treatment at the Army Hospital in Colombo.Accompanied by CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman and presidential advisor Gothabaya Rajapaksa, the President had visited Lieut. General Fonseka directly after meeting Norwegian Minister and special peace facilitator Eric Solheim.

TNA Local elections candidate shot dead in Jaffna

A local elections candidate, representing Tamil National Alliance party ITAK in Achchuveli, Mr. Mather Sellathurai, 75, was shot and killed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) operated gunmen around 9:00 p.m. Friday at his residence in SLA controlled Achchuveli South in Valikamam division, Jaffna district. The dead body of the vicitm, a social activist, was taken to the Achuveli Hospital morgue, relatives said.

Trader shot dead in Achchuveli, relative wounded

A grocery shop owner was shot and killed at his residence around 9:00 p.m. Saturday in Achchuveli, close to the Sri Lanka Army High Security Zone in Valikamam in Jaffna district. A relative who attempted to rescue the victim from the gunfire, was seriously wounded. Fear has gripped Achcuveli, Puttur and Neerveli areas where killings were escalating during the recent days. The victim, Sinnatharuai Puviraj, 40, the owner of Siyam Stores in Achchuveli town, was killed on the spot at his residence, civilian sources said. A relative youth, Sathasivam Ramkumar, 27, who attempted to rescue the victim, was rushed to Achchuveli Hospital with serious wounds and later transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, medical sources said.

LTTE claims killed 3 captured two Karuna loyalists

The LTTE yesterday claimed it had captured two Karuna loyalists and killed three others following a failed attempt by the breakaway faction to infiltrate rebel-controlled areas in Trincomalee last morning.

The Karuna faction spokesman Thooyavan speaking to the Daily Mirror confirmed the failed attack but stressed that only one of his cadres had been killed in the incident and refuted LTTE claims of having two captives. LTTE Trincomalee political head S. Elilan claimed that the Karuna cadres had infiltrated rebel areas in Thopoor at around 7.30 last morning in an attempt to attack his cadres. However he said his cadres managed to repulse the attack, capturing two Karuna cadres and killing three others. Elilan further alleged that the attack was initiated from the Pattiyady military camp and that the two captives had confirmed this upon interrogation while adding that the bodies of the three killed were from the army. However Thooyavan refuted this claim saying instead that his cadres entered rebel controlled areas via no-man’s land, adding that the body of the sole Karuna cadre killed in the operation, identified as Ravi, was in fact from the Karuna camp.

Elilan meanwhile also claimed that the two captives had made several revelations including that the Karuna group had the assistance of the military and that after most attacks carried out by the group they were told to exaggerate tiger casualty figures. The Military and the Karuna faction however refuted the allegations.

Trader shot dead in Ariyalai

Two motorbike-riding gunmen shot and killed a video rental shop owner on Ponnambalam Road in Ariyalai around 7:45 p.m. Friday, Police said. Residents in the area alleged that the gunmen who followed the victim were Sri Lanka Army operated gunmen. The victim, Puvanendran Bolder Mayooran, 27, was an activist who has taken part in setting up Heroes Day arches during Heroes week memorial events, residents said.

Trader shot dead in Neervely, Jaffna

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed L. Yasotharan, 35, a trader in front of his shop located in Neervely on the Jaffna-Point Pedro road Friday evening around 5.00 p.m, said sources from Jaffna. Yasotharan, seriously injured was immediately rushed to Jaffna Teaching hospital but later succumbed to his gunshot wounds at the hospital, hospital sources said. Yasotharan is the third trader in Neerveli to be killed by unidentified gunmen.His body is kept at the Jaffna hospital morgue for autopsy and death inquiry, added the sources.

Meanwhile, Ms. Srinithi Nandasekaran, Additional Magistrate Jaffna, visiting the site of the killings at the Aseervatham road-Nallur Tample road junction region on Friday around 12.20 p.m, checked the identity card said to be found in the trouser pocket of one of the two shot dead bodies and said that it belonged to Mahendran Pratheepan 22 of Ariyalai Neduntheru, said sources from Nallur.Although the photograph matched the face of the dead man, the doubts remain if the name on the identity card is the real name of the dead youth, added the sources.Both the dead bodies, still to be identified, are kept at the Jaffna Teachings Hospital morgue.

Ex-EPDP cadre shot in Kayts

Unidentified gunmen yesterday shot and wounded an ex-EPDP member at Puliyankoodal in Urkavathurai (Kayts) islet in Jaffna, the Tamilnet said.The incident took place near Inthan Pillayar temple around 11:30 a.m. according to police.The wounded youth, identified as N.Jegatheeswaran, 29, was taken to the Jaffna teaching hospital, medical sources said.

Karunanidhi receives Rajapakse’s special envoy Thondaman

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanid