Sri Lankan elections to judge government's popularity, peace process' direction

At least five people were hurt Thursday in assaults during local elections seen as a referendum on President Mahinda Rajapakse's governing coalition and its support of a peace process with Tamil rebels.

Over 10 million people were eligible to vote in the elections for 226 local councils, which come as spiraling violence threatens a four-year-old cease-fire between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Elections in the north and east where the Tigers operate have been postponed due to security concerns.

The ruling United People's Freedom Alliance faces competition from the Marxist People's Liberation Front, a coalition member that backed Rajapakse during the presidential elections but is running its own candidates in the local polls.

The Liberation Front has 40 seats in the 225-member national legislature, and its support is crucial for Rajapakse.

However, a strong showing by the Marxists who oppose Rajapakse's support for Norway's involvement in the island's peace process could compel them to break away from the coalition.

Meanwhile, the main opposition United National Party, or UNP, which signed the Norwegian-brokered cease-fire with the Tamil Tigers in 2002, also faces internal rifts following its defeat in the last presidential election. The UNP currently holds a majority of local councils.

The polls closed at 4 p.m. (1000 GMT) and voter turnout was estimated at about 50 percent, said a government official who declined to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media. Results were expected early Friday.

Upali Ratnayake, a spokesman for The Peoples' Action for Free and Fair Election, said the poll monitoring group has received reports that five people were injured in election violence around the country. No other details were available.

Police spokesman Rienzie Perera confirmed that five people were injured and said authorities were investigating the incidents.

The local elections come as spiraling violence threatens the truce between the government and the rebels. More than 166 people, including 87 government security personnel, have been killed since December.

The rebels began fighting in 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. More than 65,000 people were killed before the cease-fire.

Both sides agreed in Geneva, Switzerland last month to scale down violence and meet again for talks next month.

Tamil Tiger rebels, Sri Lanka navy exchange gunfire; no known casualties

) Tamil Tiger rebels in a boat fired at a Sri Lankan navy post in the port town of Trincomalee on Thursday but retreated when the navy retaliated with gunfire, a navy spokesman said. Norwegian Minister of International Development Erik Solheim, whose peace efforts led to a 2002 cease-fire in Sri Lanka - , is scheduled to visit Colombo April 6 to meet with President Mahinda Rajapakse, the Norwegian Embassy said in a statement.

Solheim's trip will be preceded by a visit by another peace envoy, Jon Hanssen-Bauer, starting Monday. He will look after the day-to-day issues relating to the peace process.

The truce has come under severe strain due to spiraling violence, with more than 166 people, including 87 government security personnel, killed since December.

Both sides agreed in Geneva, Switzerland last month to scale down the violence and meet again for talks in April.

The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate state for minority Tamils, claiming discrimination by the country's Sinhalese majority. The conflict has cost an estimated 65,000 lives.

KATTANKUDY MOSQUES AND MUSLIM INSTITUTIONS LETTER TO ELECTION COMMISSIONER

Commissioner of Elections
Elections Secretariat
P.O.Box- 02
Sarana Mawatha
Rajagiriya
Sri Jayawarthanapura.

Through : Divisional Secretary, Kattankudy

Honoured Sir,

Postponement of election for Kattankudy Urban Council

Our federation is an organization representing 40 Mosques and 84 social service institutions. Our Kattankudy town has a population of 45000 people and this town is supposed to be the

most thickly populated town in the whole of South East Asia. First of all let us express our vehement and sorrowful protest against your decision to postpone the election to our Urban Council.

The decision that you have taken is a denial of the basic democratic rights of the Muslims living in Kattankudy as well as in Batticaloa district. Moreover, it is very biased, unjust and unfair.

Therefore, we urge you to reconsider your decision and to take early action to conduct the election to our Urban Council. In support of our request we, in addition to various other obvious facts, urge you to consider the following facts as well.

Kattankudy town consists of 100 percents Muslims population and comes under complete government control.

As elections were not held for the last 9 years instead of being administered by Kattankudy Muslims, this town is run by officers who are non-Muslims.

As the representatives of the people are not governing the Urban Council, many basic problems such as non availability of pure drinking water, continues piling of garbage all around the town, very badly damaged roads, no proper drainage systems, frequent flooding of the town after every rain, remain unsolved, uncared and un attended for the last so many years.

In-sufficient staff to run the council also could be added to the list.

No development programmes for the town is put forward or planned or under taken by the officers of the council for many years.

Sir, your decision to postpone the election..

will deny the opportunity to our people to rule themselves and will make our people the slaves of those superior officers who are keen to block the development of the Muslims in the district.

will prevent us from placing our urgent needs and requirements and will make us depend on the bones thrown by the officers who are biased against Muslims.

our town which has not seen development for a long time will fall definitely to the bottom very soon.

Further, we categorically state that no officer in this district or party has the moral right to make recommendations that will deny our community it’s life and development.

And also if the general election, presidential elections could be held without any disturbance why not local body election in an exclusive Muslim town?

Therefore, we earnestly request you reconsider your decision and hold elections to our Council.

Thanking you

Yours Sincerely

(Moulavi AJM Ilyas-falahi)

Secretary

24^th March 2006

Mr.John Cushnahan , Chief Observer for the EU Election Observer Mission (EOM) hand over his final Report regarding the Presidential Election held last year to the S.L.M.C. National Leader Rauff Hakeem at his residence today . 

SLMC to seek relief from Court of Appeal to accept their

SLMC intends to file applications in the Court of Appeal tomorrow to get an order from the court instructing the elections commissioner and the returning officers, especially in the electoral districts of NE and Puttalam to accept the nominations submitted under the party symbol Tree.

The decision to file this application was taken after the SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem accompanied by his Secretary General and other official had met the elections commissioner yesterday to discuss the course action to be taken lift ban on the nomination lists by the party under its symbol, consequent to an order by court suspending the restraining order issued against the party, its leader and the secretary general on the eve of the local government elections.

During the meeting the commissioner has regretted to the SLMC delegation for having rejected the nominations by the party under its symbol the tree in accordance with the enjoining order issued on February 15. He had also appraised the party officials that in order to accept the rejected nominations a court order was required and the commissioner had assured them that his department had no objections whatsoever in the SLMC getting a court order to the effect and it will not interfere in any move by the party.

This decision was also endorsed at the meeting of the High Command of the SLMC held last night at Party's head-quarters Daarussalaam.

New moderate Tamil party recognized in Sri Lanka

Munza Mushtaq in Colombo, March 23, 2006, 1.29 p.m.. A new Tamil party, consisting of some very senior Tamil politicians has come into being. The party, Akhila Illankai Tamil United Front (AITUK) has also been given recognition by the Commissioner of Elections.

The party which aspires to be a driving force against all anti democratic Tamil political parties also envisages that the country's two decade long ethnic conflict should be resolved through a federal solution in a united Sri Lanka.

The AITUK's constitution while impressing upon equality of citizens in all parts of the country has also stressed that the rights of Tamils and Muslims must be secured. The party has also vowed to work for the betterment of those who were displaced internally and externally due to the war.

"Recognition for the party by the Elections Commissioner was granted on February 10, 2006," the AITUK General Secretary K. Vigneswaran told the Lanka Academic. Dr. Vigneswaran a former parliamentarian was earlier an advisor to Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) leader Douglas Devananda, but broke ranks with him several months ago owing to alleged 'undemocratic' style adopted by the EPDP leader.

Emphasizing why such a party was created, Dr. Vigneswaran pointed out that the aim of AITUK was to rally together democratically minded and likeminded people, as there was a void of such 'democratic organizations' in the country's Tamil political sector.

Meanwhile, it is reliably learnt that many top notch Tamil politicos such as former parliamentarians from the Tamil United Liberation Front, Eelam Peoples Democratic Party, Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam,, North East Provincial Council members and several Local Authority Chairmen are said to be part of this new party.

Farwell with LTTE leader 

Welcome at entrance by Anton Balasingham 

European envoy 

During the Peace meeting  

Pleasure moment 

The top level peace meeting between Norwargian envoy and rebel leaders 

Eric Sholhiem with Prabakaran 

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels agree to peace talks in Switzerland

Tamil Tiger rebels on Wednesday agreed to hold face-to-face talks with the Sri Lanka government in Switzerland, breaking an almost three year deadlock, officials said.

The agreement was reached after talks between Norway's top peace envoy Erik Solheim and Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, in the northern rebel-capital of Kilinochchi, officials involved in the talks said.

Solheim is scheduled to meet Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse on his return to Colombo.

The government will agree to the destination, senior presidential sources s aid. Talks are likely to start next month, they said.

Colombo had indicated to Solheim that it was willing to move away from its earlier insistence of an Asian destination and hold negotiations in any destination other than the Norwegian capital Oslo. The 25 European Union nations in which the rebels have been slapped with travel restrictions was also ruled out. The Tigers had earlier continued to insist that talks must be held nowhere else other than Oslo.

Norwegian envoy holding crucial talks with guerrilla leader to save Sri Lanka cease-fire

Norwegian envoy Eric Solheim arrived in northern Sri Lanka - for crucial talks with the reclusive leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday, amid fears the island could return to civil war after four years of relative calm.

Solheim was meeting Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the rebel-held city of Kilinochchi and was expected to deliver a message from President Mahinda Rajapakse. The meeting could help decide whether Sri Lanka - can hold onto the 2002 cease-fire despite increasing violence.

In the latest of a series of attacks blamed on the rebels, a police officer was wounded when a grenade was thrown at a security bunker in the northern town of Vavuniya early Wednesday, the Media Unit of the Defense Ministry said.

Police on Wednesday were also searching for those responsible for a series of explosions in the Sri Lankan capital that caused widespread panic but no known casualties, Deputy Inspector General of Police P. Jayasundara said.

Separately, unidentified gunmen shot and killed two people, believed to be rebel supporters, in the Tamil city of Jaffna, about 40 kilometers (25 mile) south of Kilinochchi on Wednesday, a police officer said.

About 81 government security personnel have been killed in attacks by suspected Tamil Tigers since Dec. 4. The rebels deny involvement. Another 40 civilians have been killed by unidentified assailants, with the government and the rebels blaming each other for the killings.

Solheim played a key role in arranging the cease-fire, halting nearly two decades of civil war that killed 65,000 people from both sides. Subsequent peace talks broke down in April 2003 when the Tigers withdrew demanding more autonomy for the Tamil-majority north and east.

Both the government and the Tigers have said that they are willing to resume talks aimed at proper implementation of the cease-fire to end the violence.

However, disagreement over the venue and the agenda have delayed the resumption of talks. The Tigers want the talks to be in Oslo, Norway, but the allies in Rajapakse's government are against it. But Rajapakse told Solheim that he would not be rigid on the venue.

The rebels want the government to disarm armed groups opposed to the rebels first and then meet. The government, in turn, says the Tigers should stop attacking government forces first.

The rebels have fought the government since 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils accusing majority Sinhalese of discrimination.

Suspected Rebel Ambush on Sri Lankan Navy Bus Kills 2 Civilians, Wounds 12 Sailors

Sri Lanka's military says rebels have ambushed a navy bus in the east of the country, wounding 12 sailors and sparking a gunbattle in which two civilians also died.

Officials blame Tamil rebels for Tuesday's attack in Trincomalee. They say the rebels set off a fragmentation mine as the navy bus passed by, and then opened fire on the bus with small arms. Officials say the sailors shot back, and two civilians were killed in the crossfire.

Sri Lanka's government says at least 69 security personnel have been killed by rebels since early December. The violence has severely strained a ceasefire signed by both sides in 2002.

LTTE 'killed one per day'

Human Rights Watch (HRW) say that Tamil Tiger killings of political opponents reached the rate of one per day by June 2005.

Issuing its world report for 2006 on Wednesday, HRW says that this "alarming rate" owed to to the killing of "particularly of Tamils in opposition to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam".

Stating that "respect for human rights has been seriously eroded" over the past year in several Asian countries, HRW particularly names Nepal, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China,

"Tamil Tigers continued to assassinate political opponents with complete impunity," accuses HRW.

Noting that the December 2004 tsunami "wrought tremendous destruction," particularly to the areas already most affected by the country's protracted civil war, HRW says "sectarian interests hijacked aid distribution mechanisms".
Police impunity
The HRW report also says that the Sri Lankan police "continue to enjoy great impunity".
According to this report, since February 2002 Ceasefire agreement, "an estimated two hundred Tamils have been killed for apparently political reasons. Most of the killings have been attributed to the LTTE."

The HRW blames the security forces for extra judicial killings. "While some cases of deaths in custody and torture have been investigated, no one has been prosecuted or punished as yet," the report adds.

Releasing another report on the human rights situation in ten Asian countries The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reiterated the allegation by saying, "the Sri Lankan police are granted further impunity to commit abuses".

Without a functioning National Police Commission, AHRC say "criminal elements within the police will be encouraged to blatantly flout legal and disciplinary provisions, while complainants receive threats and intimidation".
Judicial system "Rubbish"
AHRC also says that the new president has yet to put in action any strategies to reform the justice institutions.

"A start can be made by implementing the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture."

Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based regional rights body, launching the report said, "When the entire country knows that our judicial system is rubbish the idea of enforcement of human rights standards is ridiculous,"
LTTE 'will not return to war' -Norway
Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka
The Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka says that the Tamil Tigers will not return to war.
Hans Brattskar was speaking to journalists in Kilinoachi after meeting S.P Thamilselvan, leader of the LTTE political wing .

He said that he had no reason to believe that the Tamil Tigers will go to war and was optimistic that the LTTE wants to come to the negotiation table.

Speaking on the scheduled visit of Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim with LTTE leader Prabhakaran on the 23rd of January Bratskar said “the world is not going to change but it will lead to new opportunities”.

Tamil Tiger negotiator Anton Balasinham is also to visit Kilinochchi from London to join in the talks.
Attacks
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) chief Hagrup Haukland who also had talks with the LTTE political leadership said that he is aware who is responsible for attacks against an SLMM office.

He said “it is not the LTTE. It is not the government, but we know who they are”

Howeve,r Haukland did not disclose who is responsible for the attacks.

An explosive devise was set off at the Batticaloa SLMM office on Friday night.

Commenting on the attacks on security personnel in the north and east S.P.Thamilselvan, leader of of the Tamil Tiger political wing said that it was a reaction from the civilians.

“Our people are been handled in a high handed manner and they are reacting ’’ said Thamilselvan.

LTTE kills nine sailors

Nine sailors were killed and eight injured in an LTTE claymore mine blast in Chettikulam on the Mannar-Medawachchiya road at 4.15 p.m. yesterday.

According to the Navy Media Unit, the incident occurred at the 18th mile post in Chettikulam.

The sailors were travelling in three buses from the Pandukabhaya Navy Camp at Punewa towards the Gajaba and Thamenna Navy camps in Mannar when they were ambushed.

The bus carrying 19 sailors ripped apart when the claymore mine exploded. Nine of the 19 sailors were killed and eight others were injured. Two sailors escaped unhurt.

The injured sailors were rushed to the Anuradhapura General Hospital, sources said.

This was the second attack on the Navy in a week following the attack on a Naval Dvora patrol craft in Trincomalee on Saturday where 13 sailors were killed.

Earlier, 13 sailors were killed in a claymore mine blast at Nadukkuda, Mannar on December 23. The sailors killed in the attack were returning to their homes for the Christmas holidays, Navy sources said.

With yesterday's attack, the number of Armed Forces personnel killed during the past one month has gone upto 76 despite the Ceasefire Agreement signed in 2002. Along with the deaths of Armed Forces personnel, 125 people have been killed in a wave of violence which has escalated in the latter part of last year, sources said.

Meanwhile, it was reported that two members of the Denmark Demining Movement 'Dennis' on their way to Jaffna were abducted by the LTTE on Wednesday. The two were identified as Thambiah Thomas and Nagamurthy Kandipan.

Govt condemns attack

The Government yesterday strongly condemning the LTTE attack said this was another in a series of hostile acts mounted on the Security Forces by the LTTE in the North and East over the last few weeks in blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.

A release said this attack had come at a time when President Mahinda Rajapakse was making a sincere effort to consult with political parties and the facilitator to move the peace process forward.

The Government also expressed its condolences to families of the Navy personnel killed in the attack.

SLMM questions whether there is still a Ceasefire in Sri Lanka

SLMM strongly condemns the latest attack on Sri Lanka Navy soldiers in Cheddikulam on the 12th of January. Our sympathy goes to the families that have been affected by this brutal murder.

This attack is yet another serious blow to the Ceasefire Agreement and SLMM believes that if such attacks or retaliation of such attacks continue the Ceasefire Agreement will be over. Over 100 people were killed last month half of which were civilians. Killings and serious attacks continue and the situation is getting worse. It is our assessment that if the Parties don’t react immediately they risk going back to war.

Various actors in the international community have blamed the LTTE for attacking Government troops but the LTTE has continuously denied any involvement. The LTTE claims that “the People” are behind the attacks on the military. SLMM finds this explanation unacceptable. It is safe to say that LTTE involvement cannot be ruled out and we find the LTTE’s indifference to these attacks worrying.

It is however clear that people are suffering and unfortunately there have been several reports of civilian harassment by the Security Forces in relation to increased security measures. The harassment often takes a form of harsh treatment of the Tamil population in relation to the attacks. We would like to urge the Government of Sri Lanka and the Security Forces to prevent such actions from taking place.

It is important to emphasise that the current situation also stems from the fact that alternative armed elements have been able to operate freely in the East in Government controlled areas. These forces have destabilised the ceasefire and are one of the major reasons for increased tension between the Parties. We therefore urge the Government of Sri Lanka to face up to its responsibility to disarm these other armed groups so that the rule of law can be reinstated in the affected areas.

Increasing amount of civilians is being caught in the middle leading to major disturbances in the local communities. The conflict between the two sides is hurting civilians and preventing any restoration to normalcy.

We urge both Parties to consider carefully how they can mend the situation instead of merely blaming each other and pointing fingers. The Parties need to come up with firm confidence building measures with the truthful aim of reaching a peaceful solution. Actions speak louder than words and we feel that we need to see more commitment from the two Parties if war is not to break out in Sri Lanka.

A Dvora Fast Attack Craft.- Internet photo 

Hit by attacks, S.Lanka's army takes no chances

Kilinochchi Sarvanandam Anandarajah (R) and his family members wait while their meal is prepared at a refugee camp run by Kilinochchi Development, Relief and Rehabilitation Organization (KDRRO), in Tamil Tiger held Kilinochchi, northern Sri Lanka, January 3, 2006. Hundreds of residents have fled the government army-held Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka into Tamil Tiger territory, rebel officials said on Tuesday, but while some refugees said they were fleeing military harassment and feared war would resume, others said they wanted to fight alongside the rebels.
Kilinochchi Sarvanandam Anandarajah (R) and his family members wait while their meal is prepared at a refugee camp run by Kilinochchi Development, Relief and Rehabilitation Organization (KDRRO), in Tamil Tiger held Kilinochchi, northern Sri Lanka, January 3, 2006. Hundreds of residents have fled the government army-held Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka into Tamil Tiger territory, rebel officials said on Tuesday, but while some refugees said they were fleeing military harassment and feared war would resume, others said they wanted to fight alongside the rebels.

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Speeding along the rough roads of the Sri Lankan army-held Jaffna peninsula, guarded by armoured vehicles front and back, convoys transporting troops near Tamil rebel-held areas take no chances.
While a 2002 ceasefire is still technically holding, a string of suspected claymore fragmentation mine attacks on patrols and convoys in December -- the deadliest month by far since the truce -- killed 39 military personnel. Most troops patrolling Jaffna say they expect war.
"Last month, it changed," said 23-year-old Private Waduge Krishan Dehevapiya, like most soldiers one of the island's Sinhalese majority.
"We are scared. But we are soldiers. We know we will have to face that kind of strategy."
Sri Lanka's Tamil minority lives mostly in the island's north and east, where the Tamil Tiger rebels have a de facto state in most areas, except the Jaffna peninsula, which they have held intermittently and now want back.
In the latest violence, a navy Israeli-built Dvora patrol boat exploded off the northeastern coast on Saturday after being rammed by what officers said was a suspected Tiger suicide boat. Only two of the 15 crew were rescued and the others are missing, presumed dead.
Violence in the Tamil-dominated north has risen sharply since a Tiger boycott of the November presidential election helped President Mahinda Rajapakse win -- seen as the candidate least likely to cut a deal with the rebels. Analysts say the boycott suggests the Tigers are tired of the peace process.
Shortly after the election, the rebels warned they would "intensify their struggle" without new concessions and now say army atrocities in Jaffna could force them into war.
They say they are not behind the attacks, but few diplomats believe them. Neither side can agree a venue for talks.
The army deny their soldiers are abusing civilians, but say the language barrier hampers communication. Tamil courses are now being run, but officers say they should have started much earlier in a two-decade old war that has killed over 64,000.
But they say their most serious worry is safeguarding their supply routes, particularly around Jaffna -- which is cut off from the rest of the island by rebel territory, leaving the military to rely on resupply by air and sea.

HAIL OF STEEL

Within the peninsula itself, the army has only two main supply routes: the road from Jaffna town to the Palaly air base and the main road that runs to the northern border of rebel territory.
"If we had enough men, we would line the entire route," one officer said. "But we do not."
Instead, patrols -- some of only a couple of soldiers, some of sixty or so men -- repeatedly comb the roads, cutting back undergrowth and rooting through piles of rubble from the previous conflict for signs of mines or potential ambushes.
Two days before Christmas, the military says the rebels attacked a navy bus near the northwestern Mannar Sea.
A claymore fragmentation mine blasted a hail of steel ball bearings into the vehicle, which was then hit with rocket propelled grenade fire. Thirteen died.
After that and similar attacks near Jaffna, buses and trucks travel in convoy, often protected by South African-made Buffel armoured personnel carriers. Soldiers stand in bus doors and out of hatches on truck cab roofs, with AK-47s at the ready.
Some soldiers strap their flak jackets to the truck cab doors, hoping to protect the driver from any claymore blast so the vehicle keeps moving until it is out of the danger area.
But while soldiers say the attacks are pressuring troops -- some of whom have spent four years in the north and east, only rotating out for training -- they expect before long to be facing a Tiger offensive aimed at taking Jaffna.
"We are ready every day," said a senior officer. "We have to be. We cannot say it will happen. It is down to politics."

R E G I O N: US concerned over violence in Sri Lanka

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has voiced concern over a flare-up of violence in Sri Lanka, and hopes Colombo and Tamil Tiger rebels will resume talks to reinforce their fragile truce, the State Department said.
Washington plans to dispatch a senior official to the troubled tropical Indian Ocean island soon to discuss the conflict, the department said on Friday.
Rice “expressed concern over the recent upsurge in violence in northern and eastern Sri Lanka” during talks with visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, capping an official visit to Washington where he sought American help to avoid a slide back into war in the island state, said Colombo was “still willing to walk that extra mile for peace.”
“This is not because of any weakness but because we are a government committed to a negotiated settlement to this problem and we do not think that war is an option,” he told reporters.
“We want to bring international pressure on the LTTE to come and sit with us at the table to discuss the weaknesses of the cease-fire and find ways and means of strengthening it so these dastardly acts do not happen again,” Samaraweera added.
Rice and Samaraweera discussed the current status of the Sri Lankan peace process and the importance of strengthening the ceasefire, McCormack said.
“Secretary Rice reiterated the United States hope that talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on ways to strengthen the ceasefire could resume soon,” he said.
“She also lauded the Sri Lankan government for its restraint in the face of the Tamil Tigers’ provocations.”
Rice said the United States, co-chair of the Sri Lanka Donors Group along with Japan, the European Union and Norway, remained committed to working with Sri Lanka “to defeat terrorism and to promote peace.”
Washington has tagged the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.
Rice told her Sri Lankan counterpart that State Department Undersecretary Nicholas Burns ‘does intend to travel’ to Sri Lanka to discuss prospects of restoring peace.
“I think he’s (Burns) going to talk about a number of different issues: talk about facilitating the peace between the government and the LTTE, as well as other issues of regional concern,” McCormack said.
Amid the upsurge in violence, many are concerned Sri Lanka would descend again into civil war.
President Mahinda Rajapakse won November polls promising a brand new peace process that would have sidelined Norwegian peacebrokers. But he has now invited Oslo to continue its role, despite staunch opposition by his allies.
LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran had warned that unless Colombo - which has already ruled out a separate homeland for minority Tamils - gives them wide autonomy, the Tigers would ‘intensify their struggle’.
Rice praised Norway’s ‘important role’ in trying to facilitate the peace process even as Oslo struggled to bring the two parties to the table following a dispute over the venue of potential peace talks.