Sri Lanka and rebel guerrillas on Friday stepped back from restarting one of the world’s bloodiest civil wars, agreeing to peace talks as the government called off air strikes and opened roads to Tamil Tiger-held areas.
Jon Hanssen-Bauer, a Norwegian peace envoy, told reporters the two sides would resume talks after the leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had met. Seven days ago the rebels pulled out of the negotiations ”indefinitely”, saying the army had interfered with plans for its commanders to cross government-controlled territory for a meeting.
”The parties have confirmed that they will participate in Geneva, but there is one issue that must be solved first,” Hanssen-Bauer said. ”The LTTE must hold a central committee meeting before they go.”
Sri Lanka, which was racked by conflict for almost two decades and saw 65 000 people killed, has recently seen the bloodiest period since both sides agreed to a truce in 2002. About 100 people have been killed in the past two weeks.
Tuesday’s suicide bomb attack that seriously injured Sri Lanka’s army chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, and the retaliatory air strikes against rebels that killed several people and saw thousands flee their homes, had raised fears that the days of assassinations, bombings and jungle battles were back.
”The situation could have spun out of control and the international community is working very hard to convince both parties that war is not an option,” said Helen Olafsdottir, of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, the Nordic team that monitors the peace accord.
Since the attack on army headquarters in Colombo, the military presence has been stepped up with soldiers at city intersections. The capital on Friday ground to a halt as security forces shut down main roads after armed troops stormed into a shopping mall and snatched a Tamil woman, who police later said was suspected of being a Tiger operative. The operation took place on Galle Road, a busy commercial strip on which the President, Mahinda Rajapakse, lives.
Although the rebels have not claimed responsibility for the attack on the army chief, it bore the hallmarks of the ”Black Tiger” suicide squads. Police sources identified the bomber as 21-year-old Anoja Kugenthirasah from Vavuniya, a government-held town near rebel territory. It appears that she was pregnant, and that had helped her to smuggle explosives into the heavily guarded headquarters. If proved true, she would be the Tigers’ 244th suicide bomber.
Lieutenant General Fonseka is seen as a hard-liner and unusual in the Sri Lankan army in that he repeatedly said a war with the Tamil Tigers could be won. He ordered retaliations after the Tigers killed 12 sailors last December, a month after he became head of the armed forces. He also sought new weaponry, initiating talks with India for an arms pact. On Friday, doctors said he was still in intensive care and described his condition as stable. Two more soldiers succumbed to their injuries on Friday, bringing the number of dead to 11 from last week’s blast.
”It was a bloody warning not to underestimate the LTTE,” said Jehan Pereira, of the National Peace Council. ”Their aims were to demoralise the army and there are rumours that they got inside help. This army chief was careful. He took precautions. He changed cars, routes. But the Tigers still blew him up in one of the most high-security zones in Colombo. If he awakes, he’ll be angry.”
The Tigers have unrelentingly advocated a separate homeland for the three million Tamils who live in Sri Lanka. The group, which the United States, United Kingdom and India list as a proscribed terrorist organisation, started a war in 1983, claiming the Tamils were systematically discriminated against.
Since the 2002 ceasefire, the Tigers have sought international recognition for their cause. Analysts say both the government and rebels are trying to make the other look like the belligerent party.
Although he came to power with a nationalist message last November, Rajapakse has softened his stance and now talks of a negotiated settlement in a federal system. It will be difficult to sustain such talk in the face of Tiger attacks. Orange posters slapped on the city walls already proclaim ”Save the Tamils, target Prabhakaran” — a reference to the elusive leader of the Tamil Tigers.
What has provoked the LTTE this time is the government’s backing of a breakaway faction led by a former military commander of the Tigers, Colonel Karuna, whose troops have taken control of large sections of the country’s eastern flank.
Although the government agreed to stop ”armed groups” from operating in peace talks earlier this month, it has done nothing to fulfil that pledge. The army denies backing Karuna, but the Tigers appear to retaliate for killings by his men by attacking the military.
Diplomats say Karuna is valuable as a destabilising influence on the LTTE.
”First, he is being supported by the people of that area, thereby negating the claim of the Tigers to represent the Tamil people. Second, he is a genuine military threat and inspiration to those who chafe in the confines of the LTTE. You cannot blame the government for wanting to keep him alive.” — Guardian Unlimited Â