Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan soldiers held a truce as their national side marched to the cricket World Cup final, but sentries were forced to miss the match to keep a keen lookout, officials said.
”There were specific instructions to maintain a high alert and ensure that men who were on duty remained in their posts and did not scoot off to watch the match,” a military source said.
Police and military officials said there were no clashes reported during the live broadcast of the match against New Zealand in Jamaica.
There were also no fresh incidents posted on the Defence Ministry’s website on Wednesday morning, more than six hours after the match.
The military source said similar instructions to maintain a high alert went out to police, although the Tigers had announced that they will hold their fire during the telecast of the match.
”There may not be any attacks tonight [Tuesday] because we are also watching the match,” Tiger spokesperson Rasiah Ilanthiriyan told Agence France-Presse by telephone from the rebel-held north of the island before the match began on Tuesday.
Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran is believed to be a cricket fan.
Sri Lanka’s national team consists of two members of the minority Tamil community. Religious leaders have said the multi-ethnic side could be an example of unity to fractured nation.
But fighting is likely to resume before too long, with government forces expected to retaliate for the Tiger’s air strike against the military’s main facility in the northern peninsula of Jaffna the previous night. — AFP
