Airliners-India

Nimish

Hi Ai.netters,

We mods have decided to create a master thread to post all updates on the current SL situation. Currently 22 threads (out of the 40 shown) in Non-av are on the Sri Lankan issue - with many of them having 0 responses.

Hence we'd like to consolidate all future posts on the SL/Tamil issues in one thread in Non-av - this one.

The existing threads will be left untouched, but would request your cooperation to post new articles and responses to earlier ones into this master thread.

Many thanks
Nimish (on behalf of the mods).
_________________
We miss you Nalini!

karatecatman · Guest

Reposting all the '0' response Sri Lankan issue threads here

karatecatman · Guest

Sent by email
US talks to Lanka on military end to ethnic conflict

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) Talking tough, the US today told Sri Lanka and LTTE to immediately end the war in the island's north and cautioned Colombo that its unity and reconciliation could be at stake if it continued with its current endeavours to end the ethnic conflict "militarily".

The White House, in its first statement on the Sri Lankan conflict after President Barack Obama assumed office on January 20, said it was taking "very seriously" the allegations of violations of international humanitarian law by both sides.

"Further continuation of the present situation would compound the tragedy as the military end of the conflict only breeds further enmity and ends hopes for reconciliation and a unified Sri Lanka in the future," the White House said.

It said the US is deeply concerned about the plight of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers, who are confined to a 10 sq.Km swathe of coastal land in Mullaitivu in Wanni region, and the mounting death toll.

"We call on both sides to stop fighting immediately and allow civilians to safely leave the combat zone," it said.

The White House asked Sri Lanka to stop shelling the 'safe zone' and asked it to allow international aid groups and media from accessing civilians who have managed to escape from the clutches of LTTE. PTI

US is also pushing LTTE to surrender to a third party.

***

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25356892-5013404,00.html
Civil war fuelling Sri Lankan surge
Paul Maley
April 20, 2009
The Australian
SRI Lanka could soon rival Afghanistan as the main source of Australia-bound boatpeople, with senior international officials warning regional conflict and the global financial crisis will unleash a fresh wave of asylum seekers.

As the Rudd Government continues to warn Australia to brace for an upsurge in unauthorised arrivals, the International Organisation for Migration's chief of mission for Sri Lanka, Mohammed Abdi Ker Mohamud, said there had been a steady increase in people leaving the island nation by boat.

The rise in recent months of irregular migration from Sri Lanka's southern towns was being driven by the twin forces of civil war in the north and the global financial crisis, which he said had prompted a fresh wave of economic migration.

"I think we've seen the numbers in the last few months slowly increasing and our discussions with the Australian High Commission here has been coming to that," Mr Mohamud told The Australian.

"We don't know exactly how many because we have not counted them yet, but the information we are getting is the number of boats leaving Sri Lanka will be increasing or has steadily increased (in) the last few weeks."

Two boats carrying Sri Lankans have been intercepted by Australian authorities in the latest wave of asylum seekers. Two Sri Lankan passengers have been repatriated voluntarily by Australian authorities.

Mr Mohamud said there were two main departure points for boatpeople fleeing Sri Lanka. One was in the war-torn northern part of the country, where the Government is fighting the separatist Tamil Tigers, while the other was in the south.

A naval blockade in the north was stemming the flow of asylum seekers.

In the south, most of those leaving by boat were economic migrants, rather than genuine refugees, he said.

"In the south, this is where we have most of the economic migrants and I think most of the boats that left in the last few months must have come from the southern side," Mr Mohamud said.

Australian authorities are understood to be seriously concerned about the situation in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan and the long-term implications for Australian border security.

Government troops in Sri Lanka began a renewed military campaign last year to crush the Tamil Tigers, and the offensive has driven the Tamil rebels into a small area in the northeast of the island country. Along with about Tamil 100,000 civilians, the Tigers remain surrounded by government troops.

Mr Mohamud said when the naval blockade in the north was lifted, there could be a flood of refugees fleeing the war-torn region. He warned that the mix of economic migrants and genuine refugees would make processing future Sri Lankan asylum seekers difficult.

"My feeling is that it's going to change in such a way that any Sri Lankan will say he's being persecuted, any Sri Lankan will use the war in the north to look for asylum anywhere else," he said.

"They won't come to Australia and say, 'We're economic migrants', they'll come down and talk about persecution."

Nevertheless, Mr Mohamud emphasised that those coming from the north would be genuinely under threat. He said the IOM, along with the Australian High Commission, was preparing a public awareness campaign in light of the expected upsurge, warning potential boatpeople of the hazards of the long voyage across the Indian Ocean.

According to Immigration Department officials, 379 passengers have arrived unlawfully by boat since September 29, 2008, not including those on last week's boat. Of those, 245 are on Christmas Island, 131 have now been resettled, two have returned voluntarily to Sri Lanka and one is in Fremantle hospital.

***
Sent by email

Sri Lanka must now listen to its friends
An end to the war will not result in final, lasting victory for Sri Lanka's government. It has made too many mistakes along the way

Simon Tisdall
guardian
Tuesday 21 April 2009
It is an uncomfortable thought that growing international pressure on Sri Lanka's government to halt its military offensive against the Tamil Tigers may have actually precipitated this week's lethal, all-out push to end the war once and for all. President Mahinda Rajapaksa was under fire from all sides – the UN, the Red Cross, India, key western aid donors. He needed to finish it, fast. He seems to be doing so.

But the illusion that final, lasting victory has been, or can be, secured will not survive long. Even if the Tigers' leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, swallows the cyanide capsule that is said to hang from his neck, the cause he violently hijacked and distorted – justice, equality and self-government for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority – will not suddenly evaporate.

Even if the few hundred Tiger diehards in the cruelly mis-named "safe zone" surrender or succumb to superior army firepower, the memory of the horrors visited upon many tens of thousands of civilians trapped alongside them will not dissipate quickly, or perhaps at all. Even if Rajapaksa gains the acclaim of Sinhalese voters, and wins the early presidential election he is rumoured to be contemplating, he will struggle to win the peace.

Sri Lanka's government, however much provoked, has made fundamental mistakes from which it will find it hard to recover. One is that, by and large, legitimately elected and constituted governments are expected to behave better than the insurgent or terrorist groups that confront them. This means acting legally, humanely, and proportionately. On this their authority rests.

George Bush's administration forgot this basic tenet when it covertly slipped into the illicit world of enemy combatants, waterboarding and domestic surveillance. Israel's government, enraged by rocket attacks on civilian centres, responded in January with a massive assault on the citizens of Gaza. It did not stop the rockets, and whatever moral justification it might lay claim to was shredded in the eyes of most of the world.

Another Rajapaksa mistake was to believe a military solution was possible and even desirable. From Northern Ireland to Cyprus to Nepal, this canard has been exposed again and again. Assuming the current fighting in the north ends, Sri Lanka still faces a bitter harvest in the months and years ahead seeded with revenge and resentment, political unrest and and social alienation and, as matters stand now, the prospect of resuming, low-level violence, including suicide bombings.

The government's recent record on post-conflict reconciliation does not inspire confidence. According to the independent International Crisis Group, "violence, political instability and reluctance to devolve power to provincial administrations" continue to characterise the situation in Eastern province, where the Tigers' strongholds were captured in 2007.

In a report this month, the ICG said the international reconstruction and development assistance that Sri Lanka will soon be seeking should be made conditional on Colombo providing a basic level of human security, ending impunity for human rights violations, and empowering provincial councils as part of a genuine "democratic political transformation in both the north and east." Such an opening up would also entail limiting current curbs on media access and reporting.

A third basic government mistake was believing that somehow Sri Lanka could go it alone, that it could do as it saw fit in defiance of international opinion and law. Human Rights Watch is leading calls for a UN commission of inquiry to investigate alleged war crimes. "Since January, both sides have shown little regard for the safety of civilians ... The [Tigers] have violated the laws of war by using civilians as human shields ... The Sri Lankan armed forces have indiscriminately shelled densely populated areas, including hospitals," HRW said.

The US, Britain, France, UN agencies and other traditional friends and allies of Sri Lanka have all seen their repeated calls for a permanent halt to the hostilities scorned by Rajapaksa. They have been made to look and sound impotent – yet it is their goodwill the president now needs. Assuming the fighting ends, a daunting task awaits of resettling tens of thousands of displaced people, of supplying the makeshift camps where many have been concentrated, of clearing minefields and weapons caches, and more broadly, of reviving Sri Lanka's damaged economy.

Rajapaksa is said to be counting on at least $1bn in foreign aid for the north alone. But with growth rates tumbling, export prices falling and tourism in a slump, Sri Lanka is also looking for short-term help from the IMF to head off a balance of payments crisis, as well as long-term donor assistance. In other words, others will be asked to help clean up the mess – what the Red Cross calls the "catastrophe" – that the government's destructive "military solution" has created. If Colombo's leaders expect such help to be forthcoming, they will have to start listening to their friends.

Great article.

***
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Viewing the War in Sri Lanka From Afar
By Robert Mackey

US National Imagery Systems/Reuters

A satellite image released by the U.S. State Department showing refugees packed onto a narrow coastal strip in northeastern Sri Lanka earlier this month. The State Department estimates that about 100,000 people were on the beach when this photograph was taken. This week some refugees have escaped the enclave.
As the fighting in Sri Lanka’s northeast continues on Wednesday, after Tamil separatist fighters rejected a deadline to surrender, Somini Sengupta and Mark McDonald report for The Times:

The Sri Lankan military said Wednesday its soldiers were fighting their way through a lethal and dwindling “no-fire zone” on the country’s northeastern coast — the last bit of territory held by separatist Tamil rebels — as thousands of civilians continued to stream out of the area.

As Ms. Sengupta explained in a previous report on Tuesday, much of the world is still trying to piece together the events in Sri Lanka from a distance:

There is no reliable estimate of how many civilians remain compressed into the area. Aid agencies guess there are 50,000 to 100,000. Satellite images from Unosat, a United Nations service that analyzes satellite imagery of conflict zones and disaster areas, show that heavy concentrations of people moved into makeshift encampments in formerly vacant areas between early February and March.

Independent journalists do not have access to anywhere near the conflict zone, and several foreign correspondents who cover the region have been informed that their names are on a no-entry list, effectively barring them from going to Sri Lanka even as tourists. (Sri Lanka has not responded to repeated requests for visas from The New York Times.)

That satellite imagery showing refugees sheltering in the coastal strip last month — at an earlier stage of the conflict — can be seen in a map and graphic produced by The Times on Tuesday. Another satellite image, showing the concentration of refugees on a beach in the coastal strip — at the top of this blog post — was released by the U.S. State Department this week, showing how densely populated it was earlier this month.

On Tuesday, the BBC turned to the people who oversee the corporation’s broadcasts in the languages of the two main ethnic groups in Sri Lanka to get a better idea of how their listeners seemed to be responding to news of the conflict. In a discussion included in the Wednesday morning edition of the BBC’s Global News podcast, Thirumalai Manivannan, head of the BBC Tamil-language service, said that most of the well-organized Tamil diaspora supports the rebels, known as the Tamil Tigers, but that “there is also a significant Tamil opposition, which equally blames the Tamil Tiger leadership for the current misery of the Tamil civilians.”

This reiterates a point made by some readers of The Lede in recent days and by Malathi de Alwis, a Sri Lankan anthropologist, who wrote last week in an opinion article for The Guardian that the rebel movement, whose full name is the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or L.T.T.E., does not enjoy universal support among people of Tamil ethnicity. Ms. de Alwis charged that “many diaspora Tamils have been coerced into marching under L.T.T.E. flags,” and that critics of the Tamil Tigers “have been beaten and intimidated” at marches outside Sri Lanka.

Inside Sri Lanka, it is difficult to get accurate information on what is happening in the country’s northeast both because the government is keeping foreign journalists away from the war zone and because independent Sri Lankan journalists are in constant danger. In January, the Sri Lankan newspaper editor, and government critic, Lasantha Wickrematunge was gunned down in broad daylight in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo.

In an interview included in the Monday morning edition of the BBC’s Global News podcast, Mr. Wickrematunge’s brother, Lal, said that “we all know” that the Sri Lankan government was involved in his murder. “In one way or another,” he said, “we feel that the state had a hand in it.”

Mr. Wickrematunge’s widow, Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge, wrote an opinion piece on the Guardian’s Web site earlier this month, in which she argued that the Tamil separatists and the government share the blame for the current desperation of Tamils in Sri Lanka:

Even as the streets of London swarm with demonstrators calling for Tamil Eelam – a Tamil nation – for justice and for a stop to the genocide, for many of them their anger stems from desperation. The despair is borne out of an unbearable helplessness to reach out to their fellow countrymen and women now languishing in the northeast of Sri Lanka. And desperation does not always result in rational thinking.

For many Tamils, Eelam has become merely a temporary rallying point: a soapbox upon which to make a desperate international plea to stop the slaughter of their people. That such a call under the Tamil Tiger standard is oxymoronic may not matter to them in their haste to stem the flow of blood. [...]

The Tamils have suffered terribly both at the hands of the L.T.T.E. and successive Sinhala-dominated governments. Reconciliation with them will take a government that has greater reverence for secularism than the present one. Sri Lankans have become inured to the pervasive Sinhala-supremacist racism and religious bigotry that the present government has brought to Sri Lanka.

It is this racism and bigotry more than any passionate belief in the L.T.T.E. that has now pushed a desperate Tamil community towards the L.T.T.E.

Indeed, it is an insult to the Tamil people that all they have to represent their cause for emancipation are the Tamil Tigers. A group that not only systematically eliminated the political leadership of the Sri Lankan Tamils but wiped out the entire moderate Sinhala leadership and prevented Tamils from voting in elections.

Elsewhere on the BBC’s Web site, Priyath Liyanage, the editor of the BBC’s Sinhala service, said on Tuesday that “the only strategy left to the Tigers in resisting the current onslaught is by warning the army and the outside world that hundreds of civilians will die if and when the army launches its final offensive.” According to Mr. Liyanage, “it is only this threat of a bloodbath that is keeping the rebels alive.”

India slowly waking up and pushing Lanka to approach UN. Congress party making some noise.
Britain is rushing top minsters to Lanka and other countries are condemning the violence.
Lanka seems to have made a mess --- what it calls the world's largest humanitarian rescue mission is just the world's largest massacre.

***
www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hgDxxryVog23p35TD3EpnxZNdy4Q
British, French, Swedish FMs to visit Sri Lanka
1 hour ago

LONDON (AFP) — The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Sweden will visit Sri Lanka on Wednesday, government officials in London said Sunday after Colombo rejected a ceasefire declared by Tamil Tiger rebels.

"Foreign Secretary David Miliband, together with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner and Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt, will visit (Sri Lanka) on Wednesday," Downing Street said in a statement.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown telephoned Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier Sunday to express his concern "about the plight of civilians in the conflict zone," the statement added.

"He repeated his call for a ceasefire, and pledged a further 2.5 million pounds (2.7 million euros, 3.6 million dollars) for humanitarian aid for displaced persons," it said.

Sri Lanka says it is on the verge of defeating Tamil rebels who are fighting to create an independent homeland in the north of the island nation, and who stand accused of holding thousands of civilians hostage.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said its ceasefire was "in the face of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis" and in response to international appeals.

The British government said last week that junior international development minister Mike Foster will be visiting Sri Lanka on Monday to take stock of the humanitarian aspect of the conflict.

In its statement Sunday, Brown's office said he welcomed the ongoing visit to Sri Lanka by John Holmes, the United Nations under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs.

In a statement Sunday, Holmes also appealed to Sri Lanka to halt its military offensive against the Tamil Tigers in order to allow aid workers to help civilians trapped in the war zone.

At last some sense. Hope this works out.

***
www.livemint.com/2009/04/26203128/Chinese-brew-in-Sri-Lanka.html?h=B
Sun, Apr 26 2009.
Chinese brew in Sri Lanka

While India has for long argued that Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity is inviolable, it is no secret that relations between the two countries have been frosty at times
Things usually get out of hand during elections in India. In Tamil Nadu, for example, it is being held by politicians of different persuasions that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief V. Prabhakaran is not a terrorist and that Tamils of Sri Lanka should get a separate homeland. It would be easy to dismiss this as election rhetoric but for the fact that our southern flank poses a serious security challenge now.
On Sunday, the LTTE declared a unilateral ceasefire; the Sri Lankan government has rejected that. While the latter is sure to wipe out the LTTE, what should alarm India is that it has been egged on by China. “Both Nepal and Sri Lanka are friendly to China. We support the efforts of their governments to safeguard national integrity while ensuring security and political stability,” Jiang Yu, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman told reporters on 21 April.
Illustration by: Jayachandran / MintNew Delhi seems to have taken note. On Friday, Union home minister P. Chidambaram told the Hindustan Times that “China is fishing in troubled waters. That is a lone, discordant voice among all of the global community.”
While India has for long argued that Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity is inviolable, it is no secret that relations between the two countries have been frosty at times. The LTTE’s decimation as a military factor in the region and China’s search for strategic foothold in the Indian Ocean (as highlighted recently by Robert D. Kaplan in his recent Foreign Affairs article “Center Stage for the 21st Century”) are two factors that should not be seen in isolation. While it may seem far-fetched that China is about to secure military facilities in Sri Lanka, the possibility cannot be ruled out.
For long, India has enjoyed a “security dividend” on its southern flank. All the major security issues have lain on the northern and eastern flanks of the country. After the military defeat of the LTTE, that is no longer true.
Beyond these narrow requirements is, however, the issue of strategic choices to be made in the Indian Ocean littoral by India. China has already said that the Indian Ocean does not “belong” to India. It could be argued in a similar vein that the South China Sea does not belong to China. But merely saying that will not help. China is sure to move its military assets, its modern submarine fleet and warships, to secure its interests. The question that needs to be addressed is, where does a country such as Sri Lanka, that is neither friendly nor hostile to India, fit in this equation?

***
Breaking news:
Lanka say that it's calling off all heavy artillery and air operations. It will now be confined to small arms and rescue operations.

***

Govt says it is ending heavy combat operations against Tigers
27 April 2009

After a standoff between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels who were besieged in north-east Sri Lanka, the government announced a shortwhile ago that combat operations would be confined to small arms and rescuing civilians.

Reuters - Sri Lanka on Monday said that combat operations
would now be confined to using only small arms and rescuing
civilians trapped in the war zone by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam,
the president’s office said.

”Government of Sri Lanka has decided that combat operations
have reached their conclusion. Our security forces have been
instructed to end the use of heavy caliber guns, combat
aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian
causalities,” a statement said.

”Our security forces will confine their attempts to
rescuing civilians who are held hostage and give foremost
priority to saving civilians.”

In other words, this Eelam war chapter IV is over and the LTTE lives to see another day.

And instructed by who in the end? Obviously it's the power of the Tamil diaspora and the West, the G-8, The Lanka Caucus, and Lanka's forthcoming IMF loan.

Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi has also called off his indefinite fast that he started on Monday morning (April 27).

***
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/prabhakaran-not-where-lankas-looking-may-have-escaped/91299-2.html
Prabhakaran not where Lanka's looking, may have escaped

VK Shashikumar / CNN-IBN

Apr 28, 2009

Colombo: Sri Lanka says it is continuing its offensive on the ground in the Northeast in its hunt for the LTTE’s top leadership. But Indian sources say the LTTE chief Prabhakaran may have escaped already and the rebels could even regroup.

Sources also hint the LTTE supremo maybe far from the war zone of eastern Sri Lanka, belying claims by the Sri Lankan army that he is holed up in a diminishing sliver of territory in Mullaitivu.

The other implication is that he may not even be in Sri Lanka. But the sources warned that the LTTE has retained its organisational strength and that it was still capable of carrying out targeted.

They said India had not requested his extradition last week but a request is made every year and that remains on the table.

Sources confirmed that India was readying to dispatch more relief to the war zone where the situation remains chaotic.

Meanwhile, a disturbing new video apparently showing the Sri Lankans continuing to bomb Tamil civilians in the No Fire Zone has raked up a fresh controversy.

The video released by an ethnic Canadian Tamil TV channel shows civilians scrambling for cover in the war zone. The channel claimed 174 people were killed in that raid and over 200 were injured.

However, Sri Lanka has dismissed the video, claiming it was no longer using heavy weapons or aerial strikes.

A defensive Colombo is also allowing 50 tonnes of relief to flow into the war zone. More is expected to come in after European ministers hold discussions in Colombo on Wednesday.

***
The US has just held a meeting on Colombo with a full briefing for Obama:
The interagency meeting - the first if its kind for Sri Lanka - is believed to have taken place attended by senior officials from the State Department, Pentagon, National Security Council, USAID, and several other agencies.

***

There is a noticeable shift in tone by Indian channels. No longer giving out only what Lankan government is saying. Is now presenting both sides of the story.

***
www.indianexpress.com/news/india-pak-rivals-but-they-trained-helped-us-fight-tigers/452439/
'India, Pak rivals but they trained, helped us fight Tigers'
Behind the success of the Sri Lankan army’s operations against the Tamil Tigers — troops searching for LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran breached two rebel defence fortifications in the no-fire zone — is an interesting little detail of Indo-Pak cooperation against terror. Separately but consistently, the two countries have trained and equipped the Lankan army to prepare and fight its only enemy, the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan army says the reason for its success is that “we didn’t reduce the momentum”, planned the entire operation in advance and employed innovative counter-insurgency tactics to confront the Tigers.

“I got training in both India and Pakistan. Both have been helping us a lot,” said Brigadier Udaya Nanayakara, now the military spokesman. “We send our officers regularly to India and Pakistan for specialised training. I did four courses in India and three in Pakistan. The last time, I trained in Secunderabad”. He said Lankan forces have been procuring the latest technology from both countries. “We know they are rivals but we have nothing to do with that. We have benefited from both India and Pakistan,” he said.

***
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/lankan-tamil-survivor-appeals-to-mother-india/91331-3.html
Lankan Tamil survivor appeals to 'Mother India'

Rupashree Nanda / CNN-IBN

Apr 29, 2009

New Delhi: The war between Sri Lankan armed forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has led to one of the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.

While the Sri Lankan government claims it has stopped using air strikes and heavy weapons against the LTTE, a young Tamilian girl who survived the conflict in the island nation says the war is still on and adds that LTTE chief V Prabhakaran is a hero.

The young girl is in New Delhi and while she refuses to identify herself, she says that right now she has no country, but she belongs to Eelam in Sri Lanka. She spoke to CNN-IBN about the war, LTTE and the plight of Tamil civilians.

I fear for my life
I told you not to reveal my face because I have to go back home. I don't mind if I get killed but there should be reason. I should die for something

Ceasefire a myth

It is so bad. What they are facing is all killing and abduction. We never lived. We are just existing in that island. We are just waiting for a day when we can live happily. That is what we are fighting for.

Government is lying

Just few minutes back I received a call from my friend in Vanni. Even now as I am talking to you shelling and aerial bombings are taking place... people are just lying on the road without any assistance. They are just bleeding to death. Again people are moving from the area to safer places. That is what is happening. The Sri Lankan government is just lying and the whole world... I don't know whether they believe it or not, but they just pretend that they believe it.

We adore Prabhakaran

We have to laugh at them because he is our leader and he is fighting for us. But no one talks about state terrorism which is run by the Sri Lankan government. He is freedom fighter.

When asked about reports that Prabhakaran might escape through a submarine, she replies, “We will be glad to hear that if that really happened. I will be the first person to be happy.”

Appeal to India

Do something to stop all these things. I just request India... Mother India. It is the only thing I can ask for.

No attention for Tamils

It pinches me the way the international community responds to us. My question is do we have to be born in Africa or Middle East or Palestine to get attention.

***
www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/opinion/30thu3.html?ref=opinion
Editorial

Sri Lanka’s Dirty War

April 29, 2009
Army troops in Sri Lanka are closing in on a dwindling band of Tamil Tiger separatists who are outgunned on an ever-narrowing battlefield. It would be a relief if this 25-year fight finally ends. In the meantime, tens of thousands of terrified civilians are trapped in the conflict zone — a strip of land about four miles long — and are running out of food and water. They must be allowed to leave.

Human rights groups have accused both the minority Tamils, who pioneered suicide bombing as a weapon of war and are widely classified as terrorists, and Sri Lanka’s government of gross violations. After several failed attempts at peace talks, the army began this latest offensive. In recent months, as authorities sensed potential victory, the attacks have gotten ever more fierce. The United Nations estimates that more than 6,000 people have been killed and nearly 14,000 wounded just since the end of January.

While there are no good guys in this fight, the government must do all that it can to avoid harming civilians in a war zone. You know officials have something to hide when they bar aid groups and journalists from the war zone, as Sri Lanka has done since last year.

Sri Lanka has callously ignored calls for a humanitarian cease-fire. This week the government said the army would stop using heavy weapons against the rebels, but watchdog groups say that they have received reports that fierce shelling continues.

American officials say privately that they will try to delay Sri Lanka from getting a desperately needed $1.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund until all civilians are allowed to leave the war zone and aid workers have full access to refugee camps. Other countries should join that effort. The European Union is warning that unless Sri Lanka quickly declares a cease-fire, it will have to rethink its aid and trade. Japan and India should use their even greater economic leverage.

Sri Lanka’s leaders and the rebels must be warned that they could face prosecution for war crimes. Once this fighting ends, the government and the Tamils must be persuaded to pursue a serious political settlement, or this long and brutal war would certainly reignite.

***
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE53T0L420090430?sp=true
U.S. acts to delay IMF loan to Sri Lanka - officials
Thu Apr 30, 2009

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has decided to delay a $1.9 billion (1.28 billion pounds) International Monetary Fund loan to Sri Lanka to try to pressure Colombo to do more to help civilians caught in the fighting between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The officials, who spoke on condition they not be named, said the Obama administration last week conveyed its view to other members of the IMF board, which has yet to formally consider the loan.

The U.S. stance does not appear to have had any impact on the government so far in its battle to capture the last redoubt of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which have been fighting a 25-year war for a separate ethnic Tamil homeland.

U.S. officials say the government has done too little to protect the civilians in the war zone and has failed to allow in sufficient international aid workers to care for the tens of thousands who have left.

The civilians, estimated by the United Nations to number as many as 50,000, are caught in a tiny LTTE-held area on Sri Lanka's northeast coast, which the military says is down to just 2 square miles (5 square kilometres).

The British and French foreign ministers urged Sri Lanka to implement a humanitarian cease-fire with the rebels to allow tens of thousands of trapped civilians to escape the battle zone. They also urged the rebels to let the civilians leave.

Sri Lanka's ambassador to the United States, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, said the government has generally come to oppose cease-fires, arguing that the rebels have used them in the past to "regroup, rearm, reposition."

He also said the government's primary concern was protecting civilians, arguing it had ceased using heavy weaponry and was proceeding slowly and "defensively" to try to release civilians from the area with minimal casualties.

MILITARY VICTORY, POLITICAL PEACE

"We are fighting against terrorism," Wickramasuriya said in an interview, likening the Sri Lankan push against LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran to the U.S. effort to capture Osama bin Laden, whose al Qaeda group carried out the September 11 attacks.

"If bin Laden is trapped in Afghanistan, we don't want (the) U.S. to give him a cease-fire," he said. "In the same way, if Prabhakaran is trapped in Sri Lanka, we don't want anybody to tell us to give (him) a cease-fire."

The Tigers say the government claim to have ended heavy weapons use is a sham, and that artillery and air strikes continue to cause scores of civilian deaths, with 20 killed when a makeshift hospital was shelled on Wednesday.

Verifying claims from the battle zone, where 50,000 troops face an estimated few hundred to few thousand remaining rebel fighters among far more civilians, is difficult given lack of access and independent sources on the ground.

"The problem, from our vantage point, is that the Sri Lankans have refused to engage on the humanitarian crisis as a priority," said one U.S. official. Delaying an IMF loan "is an attempt to get their priorities back where they should be."

However, U.S. officials said Washington could ultimately support the loan if Columbo addressed the humanitarian issues or it concluded preventing the loan was counter-productive.

"I don't think there is any stomach to punish them from here to eternity on this," said another U.S. official. "I could see the loan going through (eventually) but right now it's very difficult for (IMF) board members to go through with this."

Asked about the matter, an IMF spokeswoman said: "Discussions with the authorities on an IMF-supported program are still ongoing. We do not have any schedule of the Executive Board meeting at this moment."

U.S. officials said they feared the government, in seeking a military victory, had neglected preparing for a political accommodation that may be necessary for a lasting peace.

Wickramasuriya said the government wanted to bring Tamil Tiger sympathizers into the political process and had done so in the past, noting that a prominent LTTE member had come over to the government's side.

Teresita Schaffer, a former U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka now at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the government was loathe to make concessions such as giving provinces more power to bring in LTTE sympathizers.

"This government, I think, has not thought very deeply about the fact that if they do have a military victory they will still need to make a political peace," Schaffer said.

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton, editing by Todd Eastham)

***
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/05/20095141557222873.html
S Lanka admits bombing 'safe zone'

The Sri Lanka government has admitted carrying out air strikes in the so-called no-fire zone in the country's northeast where the army is battling Tamil separatists.

But Palitha Kohona, the Sri Lankan foreign ministry secretary, told Al Jazeera that the strikes were weeks ago and the military focused only on the Tamil Tigers' artillery guns, well away from civilians.

"As long as the retaliation is proportionate it is perfectly legitimate and what we did exactly was located these guns and retaliated against those guns," he said.

"But I would challenge anybody to say that these shell holes were created once the civilians moved into the area and became occupied by civilians," he added.

The apparent admission follows the leaking of UN satellite images showing evidence of such attacks, supporting claims by Tamil groups that aircraft had bombed the area the government designated a safe zone in February.

The government had for weeks repeatedly denied its armed forces were using heavy artillery or conducting air raids in the safe zone where it says Tamil Tigers have been holding civilians as human shields.

Many who have managed to get out say the fighters were indeed holding them against their will, and fired on them to prevent their escape.

Tens of thousands of civilians, along with the Tamil Tigers, are believed to remain clustered in the 10sq km area.

On April 19, Kohona told Al Jazeera there was no government shelling in the safe zone.

"Absolutely not because the government has issued instructions, very strict instructions, to the military not to use aerial bombing or shelling into this area."

But on Friday, confronted by the latest UN satellite imaging agency (Unosat) pictures showing craters which were formed inside the zone between February and April this year, Kohona at first challenged their authenticity before admitting targeting the Tigers' heavy guns.

He said, however, that it was before civilians flooded the area and maintained that the government adhered to international law.

Unosat says the pictures show craters which were formed inside the zone between February 15 and April 19, the day before the army breached the Tigers' defences and civilians started to pour out.

Einer Bjorge, head of the mapping unit at Unosat, told Al Jazeera the pattern of the craters would have required air power.

"The imagery is fairly clear and shows the time, so anybody can study and compare them," he said.

He said the images were also commercially available from the satellite operator.

"Anyone interested in verifying the images can purchase them if they want. It is commercially available to the public," he said.

"You can't get any more transparent than that."

***
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/18/2574160.htm
Sri Lankans 'petrified' after Sydney acid attack

Sri Lankans in Sydney are said to be petrified after a violent house invasion overnight which police say is linked to the conflict in their home country.

Three young Sri Lankan men have been taken to hospital after several violent incidents in Western Sydney in the past 24 hours.

In the worst case, a 22-year-old Sinhalese student could lose his sight after several men broke into his home and threw acid in his face.

Police are still looking for the intruders, but they have arrested five men over a brawl that broke out between members of the Sinhalese and Tamil communities earlier yesterday.

The Sri Lankan Consul General, Gothani Indikadahena, says the victim, who is a business student in Australia, may lose his sight and that he has suffered many other injuries

She visited him in hospital today.

"He was in an induced coma. Now when I went there, he was able to speak. Because his mouth has so many tubes, so I could just figure out from his lips that he's fine. That's all he could say," she said.

The man's 27-year-old housemate has also suffered burns, a badly broken leg and stab wounds.

Ms Indikadahena says the men had not been involved in any political activities yesterday, but had just got home from work and gone to bed when their house was broken into.

She says she has been updating their families all day and that one of the men's fathers was so distraught he could not speak on the phone.

"They couldn't believe. They thought Australia being a country which is a safe country for everyone to live," she said.

"They did not expect this to happen in Australia.

"This could have happened in Sri Lanka because of the terrorists that are devastating the country for the last 30 years, and so this could have happened in Sri Lanka but not certainly in Australia.

"So they are really worried and they think we have sent our children to Australia for education, not to hear these things and they're lost to understand why it has happened."

Witness protected

Ms Indikadahena says a third man witnessed the attack and is being protected.

Police are still trying to work out if that incident is linked to an earlier assault that left a man in hospital and sparked a brawl in the car park of a shopping centre at nearby Wentworthville.

Superintendent Karen Webb says officers did not see how the fight started.

"It was actually the good fortune of police driving across the altercation, but we're still yet to identify all of those involved," she said.

"It may be as many as 100 people that were involved in the altercation at the car park at the supermarket, though we're yet to determine that."

She says five people have been arrested and charged with affray and assault, and investigators are looking for other people involved.

Superintendent Webb has described the two incidents as politically motivated but will not say if police are looking for certain groups.

"The first thing we'd ask the community to do is to remain calm and not to look for retribution in any way, and certainly turn to the police if they've got information that may assist us," she said.

"Police are actually in discussions now with community groups to ensure that we can keep the situation calm."

Hatred spreading

Ms Indikadahena says the Sinhalese fear they will be targeted.

"We are very disturbed, so I am calling a meeting of the community tonight to tell the community to calm down because we really need to take precautions," she said.

"They are expressing fear. Fear for their children and because being Sinhalese they'll be subject to attacks by these pro-[Tamil]groups in Australia."

But she says the perpetrators are not representative on the Tamil community.

Safety fears

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia, Senaka Wallgampaya, also says members of the local Sri Lankan community fear for their safety after the home invasion.

He says he has received many calls from members of the community worried for their safety.

"From Melbourne, Sydney, even in Canberra," he said.

"And that's why I'd like to appeal to all Sri Lankans, both the Tamils and the Singhalese, not to commit any breaches of the peace, and to learn to live peacefully... and to learn to coexist in this country, which respects multiculturalism in a big way. Please learn to co-exist."

However Tamil spokeswoman Dr Sam Pari says the Tamil community is also afraid of being targeted.

"The Tamil community is now fearful that the ethnic hatred that we as a people have faced and are facing and will probably continue to face in Sri Lanka has now spread overseas. The ethnic hatred has now spread overseas.

"And members of the Tamil community are being targeted purely because they are carrying the flag of Tamil Elam."

***

www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gqv6t9FjbFI6bMKqt3pEMnSawkww
Tamils suspicious of president's 'unity' offer

May 20, 2009
COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lanka's president marked victory over Tamil Tiger guerrillas with a vow that Tamils would not be victimised, but the minority community remains deeply suspicious after years of discrimination.

Accounting for about 13 percent of the island's 20 million population, Tamils have long been wary of governments run by the Sinhalese-majority, which they accuse of treating them like second-class citizens.

President Mahinda Rajapakse told parliament on Tuesday that "all should live with equal rights. They should live without any fear or doubt."

"Let us all be united," he said.

Tamils greeted the speech with little enthusiasm but expressed hope that the end of the decades-long bloody war might at least bring about some practical improvements in their everyday lives.

"Tamil people know that the war is over. We hope now there will be free movement for our people," opposition Tamil National Alliance legislator C. Chandranehru said.

He wants authorities to reduce the endless checkpoints and roadblocks that divide up the country, where Tamils have to carry official papers to prove their identity.

Most believe they are singled out for grilling at the checkpoints, while last year hundreds of Tamils were evicted from Colombo because officials deemed them a threat to national security.

Only later did a court intervene to stop the evictions, saying it amounted to collective punishment.

"Now we have to wait and see what happens next, if we will be treated equally," equity analyst and Tamil Anchana Ratnasingham told AFP.

Social Services Minister Douglas Devananda, a former Tamil fighter, said tackling long-standing Tamil grievances was "a must" if Sri Lanka is to secure a more peaceful future.

"Until now, Prabhakaran stood in the way. Whatever all democratically elected political parties suggested, Prabhakaran rejected. Now the obstacle is no more," said Devananda after the Tiger leader was found dead.

Tamils had a privileged status under British colonial rulers but have suffered discrimination in language, jobs and education since the Sinhalese majority took power after independence in 1948.

Successive governments have promised to address the problems, but progress has been slow or non-existent with Sinhalese and Tamil nationalism both on the rise.

As Sinhalese Sri Lankans lit fire crackers and danced on the streets waving the national flag to celebrate the Tigers' demise, many Tamils felt nervous about the coming years.

"I don't really care if Prabhakaran is dead or alive, military people will not stop checking us," said S. Perimbarajah, a housewife living in Colombo's Tamil-dominated Wellawatte area, also known as "Little Jaffna."

Jaffna itself, in the island's war-torn north, is regarded as the Tamil cultural capital. Troops wrestled the town from the Tigers in 1995, but residents there still face severe travel restrictions.

Wellawatte, where shops sell traditional Jaffna sweets, has narrow lanes crammed with high rise apartments and cheap hotels popular with Tamils fleeing the fighting or seeking shelter before heading abroad.

Businessman L. Satheeshnathan urged President Rajapakse not to use the rebel rout to "settle scores" with the wider Tamil community.

"Otherwise the ethnic pot will continue to boil," he warned.

For lawyer Kanthi Vijayakumar, any victory celebrations were "tasteless" after so much bloodshed and with so many people driven from their homes.

"My two sisters and their families are at one camp, my mother in another camp," she said. "They have no money, no jobs, no land and no hope for the future. The war has torn our family apart."

***

http://praguemonitor.com/2009/05/21/czech-officials-block-many-arms-deals-sri-lanka-ministry
Czech officials block many arms deals with Sri Lanka-ministry
ČTK | 21 May 2009
Prague/Brussels, May 20 (CTK) - The Czech government rejected several requests for licences for export of military material to Sri Lanka in 2007 though military material worth over 630,000 euros was exported there, the Industry and Trade Ministry told CTK Wednesday.

The ministry was reacting to the EUobserver server's criticism of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and several other EU member states for continuing exports of arms to Sri Lanka in breach of the EU's code of conduct on arms exports.

According to the server, the positions of these countries contradicts to the position of Brussels which does not hide its concern about violation of human rights in Sri Lanka.

"I can confirm that military material worth 633,000 euros was sold to Sri Lanka from the Czech Republic in 2007," Industry and Trade Ministry spokesman Tomas Bartovsky told CTK.

However, the report on control over export of military material and hand arms that the ministry placed on the Internet at the end of last year also shows that the Foreign Ministry adopted a negative position on several requests for the licences for export of military material to Sri Lanka, Bartovsky said.

The Czech Republic does not need Brussels' consent to issue arms export licences but the Czech Republic has been observing the EU's code of conduct on arms exports from 1998, Bartovsky said.

***
Sent by email

Sri Lankan minister admits army killed civilians

A former Tamil Tiger leader who defected from the LTTE 5 years ago, to become a Sri Lankan government minister has given the first official admission that significant numbers of civilians were killed during the final offensive against the rebels.

By Dean Nelson in Colombo
21 May 2009

In an exclusive interview with the Graph UK, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, alias Colonel Karuna, said president Mahinda Rajapaksa had made a mistake when he claimed no-one died at the hands of the army.

His comments undermine the government's previous claims and will alert western diplomats gathering evidence on civilian deaths for a future war crimes case.

During his victory speech in the Sri Lankan Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Rajapaksa said his army had achieved a 'miracle' in winning the battle "without shedding the blood of civilians".

But according to Mr Muralitharan, the president was aware of what he called the "damage" and not accepting it had been a "mistake".

He said Tamil Tigers claims of 20,000 deaths were an overestimate but added: "There are casualties, and we have to appreciate the casualties because without them you can't rescue the people. They made a mistake. The president knows the damage."

He said he did not know the exact numbers, but according to the United Nations between 8,000 and 10,000 civilians died in the Sri Lankan army advance across the north of the island between January and May.

Some are believed to have been shot by Tamil Tiger fighters as they tried to flee the battle zone, while many died in army mortar attacks.

"I feel very sad for the people of the north. They are Tamil people and [the Tamil Tigers] did very bad things to them. When civilians tried to escape, including children, they were shot," he said.

Mr Muralitharan, now minister for constitutional affairs and national integration and vice-president of the ruling Sri Lankan Freedom Party, also challenged officials who earlier this week said more than a quarter of a million displaced civilians could be held in overcrowded camps for up to two years.

He called for them to be resettled quickly and said the wasted north of the island must be swiftly redeveloped to unify the country and help Tamils forget the past.

"There are a lot of landmines there, but after clearing, we can resettle. There's no need for two years, after one we can resettle," he said.

Mr Muralitharan said the north of the country had been destroyed by the war and now needed billions in international aid for redevelopment.

He said 95 per cent of buildings in three districts were destroyed and new schools, hospitals, roads, were needed while water, electricity and communications services would have to be restored. "The whole infrastructure needs completely rebuilding," he said.

His comments on the need to draw Tamils into a Sri Lankan future came amid new allegations that paramilitaries linked to the army were being used to pick out Tamil Tiger child soldiers in refugee camps. Some had been then been kidnapped for ransom, said the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

Mr Muralitharan was speaking shortly after he returned from identifying the dead body of his former leader, the once-feared Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Television footage had shown his corpse but there were questions over whether the body really was the rebel leader. Mr Muralitharan, who had served Prabhakaran for 20 years as his eastern commander, was sent to the battle scene to dispel doubts. "There is no doubt, it is his body. He was shot by the army," he said.

He said the Tamil Tiger leader was killed by a single shot to the head – the bullet had entered through the left side of his forehead and blown out the back of his skull.

He claimed they had been trying to escape with 18 fighters when the were confronted by Sri Lankan troops.

"They tried to escape into the jungle and crossed an army defence line. They scattered and they [the army] found him. They did not arrest him. He was with four people. They fired at the army and the army shot him. He was a coward leader," he said.

Guess this man is the next to be finished off. He's already been called a traitor by the LTTE and is now seen already trying to make capital out of Prbhakaran's absence, includng wanting to travel to India to explain to us why and how Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated.

***
www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0522/1224247112065.html
Interned Tamil fighters being attacked - reports

GETHIN CHAMBERLA
IN in Colombo

REPORTS ARE emerging from Sri Lanka’s internment camps of vicious retaliation being meted out to Tamil Tiger fighters and of the abduction of young children by paramilitary groups.

Detainees in one of the camps told this reporter that a number of women Tamil Tigers have been murdered after surrendering to the authorities.

The bodies of 11 young women were allegedly found with their throats cut outside the Menic Farm camp near the town of Vavuniya, according to people being held behind the razor wire perimeter.

The women’s short haircuts are understood to have made them easily identifiable as former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The bodies are said to have been discovered in the last two weeks, but there is no way of confirming the allegations because access to the camps is restricted.

On Wednesday the defence ministry said many of the estimated 250,000 people inside the camps might have to stay for up to two years.

But yesterday the government changed tack and insisted it planned to return most of the civilians to their homes this year.

The allegations came as a coalition of humanitarian agencies claimed that paramilitary groups had gained access to the camps and were abducting children.

But aid workers say there is also a growing resentment among inmates in the camps against the LTTE over its treatment of the civilian population in the final months of the fighting, and that many of the female cadres now incarcerated are living in fear of reprisals. The government has denied the allegations.

An official who has visited the camps recently said the women’s bodies had apparently been found close to zone two of the camp, where about 70,000 of the more recent arrivals are living under canvas.

“A couple of weeks ago, 11 bodies were discovered. All these women had short hair. This is a tell-tale sign of women newly recruited to the LTTE. According to unconfirmed reports, these women had their throats slashed,” the official said.

“According to my sources, there are about 1,000 cadres currently in zone three and two of Menic Farm.”

The official said no one was sure who was responsible, but other female residents now feared for their safety. “They have heard reports of women being killed . . . so now women have told me they feel afraid.”

Speaking through a third party with access to the camps, a number of those detained said they had heard about the discovery of the bodies.

One man pleaded with the government to let them leave. “I don’t know how much longer we can live like this. There are too many people. I don’t know why the government won’t start releasing us,” he said. “There are so many people who very clearly have no connections to the LTTE that can be cleared of any wrongdoing so easily. For example, I have no LTTE connection . . . Why can’t they let me and my family go?”

But Sri Lanka’s disaster management and human-rights minister, Mahinda Samarasinghe, cast doubt on the reports. “I don’t think it is happening because we would have heard about it,” he said. “If something like that was happening, the UNHCR [office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] would be the first to come to me and say they were angry about it, but they have not done that.”

Some residents also complained about the disappearance of children from the camps and yesterday the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers said it had verified reports that children as young as 12 were taken from the camps and the town of Vavuniya.

“[Some] have been taken away for ransom and their release has been subsequently negotiated by the parents, either by offering jewellery or cash,” said Charu Hogg, Asia manager for the coalition, which includes Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Others had been abducted by paramilitaries and taken to army camps, presumably for questioning over ties to the rebel group, which frequently recruited child soldiers, she said.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka today to urge the government to ease access to the camps for the UN and other aid organisations. – (Guardian service)

***

Sent by email

TIMES UK
May 22, 2009

Satellite images of Sri Lanka conflict used in war crimes inquiry

Jeremy Page,
South Asia Correspondent
US military satellites secretly monitored Sri Lanka’s conflict zone through the latter stages of the war against the Tamil Tigers and American officials are examining images for evidence of war crimes, The Times has learnt.

The images are of a higher resolution than any that are available commercially and could bolster the case for an international war crimes inquiry when the UN Human Rights Council holds a session on Sri Lanka next week.

They were acquired by the National Geo-spatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), based in Bethesda, Maryland, which is part of the Department of Defence but provides services for other government agencies.

Marshall Hudson, a spokesman for the NGA, told The Times that the agency had been monitoring the conflict zone and had provided images to the State Department, some of which were released to the media in April.

“It’s a safe assumption that we didn’t release everything that we have,” he said. He declined to give further details.

Other US officials said that the Office of War Crimes Issues was investigating Sri Lanka and that satellite images were a crucial part of the investigation because of the lack of access on the ground.

Sri Lanka declared victory in its 26-year civil war on Tuesday after killing or capturing the last of the Tigers.

Britain, the EU and Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, have called for an investigation into allegations that both sides committed war crimes repeatedly, including firing on civilians.

European Union states are struggling to raise more than 17 votes on the 47-member Human Rights Council, dominated by a bloc led by China and Russia that has frequently prevented inquiries into human rights.

The US, which was elected to the Council last week after ending its boycott of the body, does not become a voting member until next month but is expected to speak at the meeting and could share its evidence with undecided members, diplomats said.

If the UN fails to back a war crimes inquiry Washington could use the images and others from commercial sources as evidence in its investigation, according to human rights activists.

This is the latest example of how satellite technology is being used to monitor conflicts and hold governments to account for their actions.

Satellite imagery is valuable in the case of Sri Lanka because the Government has banned almost all independent aid workers and journalists from the front line, blocking examination of alleged war crime scenes.

The State Department has already used NGA satellite images to put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government.

It released two pictures to the media in April that it said showed 100,000 civilians crammed on to a beach in the conflict zone.

In the same month, the UN leaked satellite images from multiple sources that appeared to prove that the Sri Lankan air force had bombed civilians there despite establishing it as a no-fire zone for them to shelter in.

Sri Lanka admitted bombing the area but said that it was attacking Tiger artillery positions and that there were no civilians in the immediate area at the time. It accused the UN of spying.

Human Rights Watch has used satellite images of Sri Lanka from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which has helped to expose rights abuses in Burma, Zimbabwe, Chad and the Darfur region of Sudan.

The resolution of the images does not exceed half a metre per pixel, and most do not allow night vision.

“We can do a little better than that,” Mr Hudson said. The NGA uses software to recognise and analyse differences between images that could indicate damages from bombs or heavy artillery

***
TIMES UK
[b:3e17e3

karatecatman · Guest

***
TIMES UK
Sri Lanka says it lost 6,000 troops in final phase of war

Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent

More than 6,200 Sri Lankan troops have been killed and nearly 30,000 injured since the last phase of the war against the Tamil Tigers began in July 2006.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary, revealed the death toll for the first time in an interview last night with state-run television.

“We made huge sacrifices for this victory,” he said.

The Government stopped publishing military casualty figures last year, anxious to maintain recruitment levels for the Army and public support for its campaign to defeat the Tigers after 26 years of civil war.

Its last estimate for military deaths, released late last year, was 3,800 over the previous 18 months.

Mr Rajapaksa said that the new death toll for the Army, Navy, Air Force, police and civil defence force since July 2006 was 6,261, with 29,551 wounded.

The total number of military deaths since 1981 was 23,790.

The new figures give a measure of the intensity of the fighting since the start of this year, when the Army captured the Tigers’ de facto capital and drove them into a small piece of land on the northeastern coast.

Sri Lanka formally declared victory on Tuesday after killing or capturing the last of the Tigers, who were banned as a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union, India, Canada and Australia.

The true human cost of Asia’s longest modern war is still unclear, however — not least because the Government has blocked reporters and aid workers from visiting the scene of the final battle, or talking to civilian witnesses.

The military said several months ago that it had killed at least 20,000 Tigers in this phase of the war, but has yet to give a final tally. The Tigers admitted in November that they had lost more than 22,000 fighters since 1982.

There is also uncertainty over the number of civilian casualties, especially since the start of the year, when more than 200,000 non-combatants were trapped with the Tigers in the tiny conflict zone.

Unconfirmed UN estimates suggest that 7,000 civilians have been killed since January 20.

The Government says that is an exaggeration, but has not given its own estimate, although President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary’s brother, told Parliament on Tuesday that the Army had won “without shedding the blood of civilians”.

The Tigers accuse the army of killing more than 20,000 civilians in the last phase of the fighting.

International aid agencies have warned that thousands more civilian lives could be lost if the Government does not allow better access to almost 300,000 Tamil civilians being held and screened in internment camps.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, is due in Sri Lanka later today on a 24-hour mission to press for unrestricted humanitarian access to the camps where aid workers say water, medicine and other basic needs are in short supply.

He is expected to visit some of the better-equipped camps in the northern district of Vavuniya tomorrow and to meet President Rajapaksa and Rohitha Bogollagama, the Foreign Minister.

The UN chief has also joined the EU in calling for an international investigation into allegations that both sides committed war crimes by targeting civilians.

Overall, the United Nations estimated this week that 80,000 to 100,000 people had been killed on all sides since the civil war began in 1983.

***
www.nytimes.com/2009/05/23/world/asia/23lanka.html?ref=world
Sri Lanka Ignores Calls for Access to War Refugees

THE NEW YORK TIMES
May 22, 2009

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s government ignored mounting calls Friday by international relief organizations for greater access to the country’s swelling refugee camps, as the military continued to weed out suspected former Tamil Tiger rebels hiding among civilians.

Even as the end of the war has brought a new flood of refugees in the north in recent days, the United Nations, the International Red Cross and other groups have said that the military’s new restrictions have curtailed their activities and are endangering the lives of a refugee population now estimated at 280,000.

In a joint statement Friday, 14 international relief organizations operating in the camps said that the government had restricted the movement of their vehicles in and out of the camps, making it impossible to provide adequate services.

“The government is afraid that with such a large number of vehicles going in and out of the camps, some L.T.T.E. members may escape,” said David White, the head in Sri Lanka of Oxfam, one of the 14 organizations, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers. “Also, the large number of international vehicles in the camps makes it seem as if it’s an international relief effort whereas the government is very keen on portraying this as a national effort.”

While the government has said it is screening out suspected Tamil Tigers in the camps, aid officials said the authorities appeared worried that some former rebels had escaped or bribed their way out. The government, which Western governments and human rights organizations have accused of indiscriminately shelling rebel-held areas containing civilians, also seemed intent on controlling access to witnesses, aid officials and diplomats here said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The government rejected criticism of its handling of the refugees, describing its efforts as satisfactory. “Those who are ignorant of such efforts should at least try to see what is happening at ground level before making irresponsible statements to criticize the good work done by the government under difficult conditions,” the health minister, Athula Kahandaliyanage, said in a statement. “If such statements are irresponsibly stated, it may be with ulterior motives in order to bring disrepute and to discredit the government.”

The government, which barred journalists from the combat zones and rejected international calls for a cease-fire, stuck to its hard-line stance Friday, hours before United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was scheduled to make a 24-hour visit here. Mr. Ban was to meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and visit a refugee camp called Manik Farm in the northern district of Vavuniya, where 250,000 out of the total 280,000 refugees are being sheltered.

After circling over the combat zone in the country’s northeast section, Mr. Ban’s chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, on Friday described the area as “ravaged,” with many burned-out vehicles and clusters of battered tents.

“What was truly striking was the almost total absence of human habitation,” he said at a news conference here. “It was almost eerie.”

Asked about an investigation into possible war crimes committed both by the Tamil Tigers and the government, Mr. Nambiar said the issue would likely be raised at a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council next week.

But addressing tens of thousands of people outside the national parliament Friday afternoon, the president dismissed any investigation. “There are some who tried to stop our military campaign by threatening to haul us before war crimes tribunals,” Mr. Rajapakse said. “They are still trying to do that, but I am not afraid.”

In the final weeks of the war, government troops cornered the Tamil Tigers in a tiny strip of coastline in the island nation’s northeast. Tens of thousands of civilians caught in that area, and used as human shields by the Tamil Tigers, have now been moved just south to the Vavuniya district.

Some of the seriously injured are being taken to the main hospital in the town of Vavuniya, where 1,900 people were being treated earlier this week in a facility with a capacity for 450, according to Doctors Without Borders, the aid group that is helping Sri Lanka doctors there. Most of the refugees were taken to four camps, collectively called Manik Farm and lining a main road in Vavuniya district.

Aid officials with operations there said the government had set up the facilities relatively well, with about 10 people sharing tents measuring 5 by 3 meters, or 16 feet by 10 feet. “The camp management is actually not bad,” said one aid official. “That’s not why the government doesn’t want to let people inside. They don’t want the media to be talking to people about what happened in the conflict zones.” Mr. Nambiar said that Mr. Ban would press for greater access to the camps while working with the Sri Lankan government. He added that the “world is watching” the government’s actions, hinting that badly needed assistance to rebuild the former rebel-held zones may hinge on the government’s postwar behavior.

The United States, whose calls for a cease-fire were ignored by the government here, recently suggested withholding a $1.9 billion International Monetary Fund loan for Sri Lanka. In response, the Sri Lankan central bank governor, Nivard Cabraal, told reporters here that the government was working on “plan B, plan C and plan D.”

The comment suggested that the government may turn for help to China, one of the main suppliers of weapons in its victory over the Tamil Tigers.

***
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Caught-in-crossfire-Over-75000-Lankan-refugees-living-in-TN/articleshow/4562030.cms
TIMES OF INDIA
Caught in crossfire: Over 75,000 Lankan refugees living in TN
22 May 2009
Lakshmy Ramanathan, TNN

CHENNAI: "When elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled" words that sum up the racial conflict that has raged for several decades in the island nation of Sri Lanka; the conflict that has created 75,000 refugees in Tamil Nadu alone. For years now, OfERR (Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation), an organisation working with Lankan Tamil refugees in the state, has ridden on the truth of this statement to prevent victims from turning radical.

"We certainly don't want our people to espouse any form of violence," says SC Chandrahasan, treasurer, OfERR. "Ever since radical groups took over the reins of the Palestinian cause, its people lost the support of neighbouring Islamic countries that fear their own security," he says.

As per the data from the government website and OfERR's internal records, 75,738 refugees live in 117 camps across the state at present. The first influx of refugees, who arrived between 1983 and 1987 and numbering a 1,34,053, were initially housed at the Mandapam camp in Rameswaram; the very camp that was used as a transit point for indentured Tamil labourers that the British were taking to work on the plantations in Sri Lanka. This same camp has seen more arrivals this last few months. In April alone, 74 refugees fled their homes in the island and crossed the Gulf of Mannar to arrive at the Mandapam camp.

Their memories are fresh, their wounds fresher a condition that is possibly ideal for indoctrination of any kind. This is the reason that OfERR has made it a point to hold awakening' sessions at the camps every three months. "We try to be neutral but sometimes it's very difficult to convince young, listless boys to oppose violence," explains M Sakkariyas, director of such advocacy programmes. "Peace education works best with women. The women in each camp are networked and therefore our activities trickle down better," he says.

Apart from awakening sessions and peace education, industrial training in masonry, carpentry and tailoring for textile companies keep many of the refugees busy. Industrial training has specially helped the residents of the Gummidipoondi camp seek employment at the nearby SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) area. "We will always look to improve our human capital. Only a process that is lined with education, skill and personnel development will help us rebuild our lives once we return to Eelam," says Chandrahasan.

Hope Sir Rajapaksa is aware of this. (There is increasing clamour now for him to be knighted -- by the British Queen!)

***
www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jw02qea6dvIgVfszaCHfOShAz2AAD98BRKG80
Sri Lanka health ministry probes war zone doctors
By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
May 23, 2009

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's health ministry is investigating three doctors detained by the military on accusations they gave false information about war zone casualties to the media, an official said Saturday.

The doctors said they treated hundreds of badly wounded civilians in understaffed, makeshift hospitals in the north during the military's final offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels. The physicians were among the few sources of information on those wounded and killed in the fighting, since most journalists were banned from the area.

Thurairaja Varatharajah, Thangamuttu Sathyamurthi and V. Shanmugarajah fled the war zone a week ago — just before the government routed the last rebels on the battlefield — and were immediately detained.

The health ministry has opened an investigation into accusations that the doctors — all government employees — provided incorrect and exaggerated details about civilian casualties and shortages of medicine and food, said Dharma Wanninayake, a ministry spokesman.

Once the inquiry is over, disciplinary action will be taken against the three, he said.

The detention of the doctors has raised international concerns, with human rights groups calling for their release.

The U.S. State Department said the doctors "helped save many lives during the conflict and provided some of the only medical support available in the conflict area while caught between the (rebels) and Sri Lankan forces and facing extreme shortages of medical supplies."

"We urge the government to resolve the doctors' cases quickly and release them," the State Department said in a statement.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was allowed to speak with the doctors Thursday.

As the fighting in the north escalated, the doctors said the region was under almost constant artillery attack that caused heavy civilian casualties.

The government denied it was shelling the war zone and dismissed reports of large-scale civilian casualties.

Wanninayake said the doctors' statements embarrassed the government, and that they did not respond to letters sent by the ministry asking about the health situation in the conflict area.

The United Nations says more than 7,000 civilians were killed in the fighting since late January. The Red Cross says it evacuated 13,769 sick and wounded people and their relatives from the war zone.

The doctors' statements embarrassed the government. Wow!!!!

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2788 Location: FL,USA

There is a news flash saying that the LTTE admits that Prabhakaran is dead.

karatecatman · Guest

India, Pakistan on the side of Sri Lanka in rights battle with West

(Source: IANS)
Mon, 25 May 2009

India and Pakistan find themselves on the same side with Sri Lanka as Europe accuses Colombo of "war crimes" against the Tamils.

A special session of the UN Human Rights Council is due Tuesday in Geneva where Denmark and Britain are leading a vocal and sustained drive to pin down Sri Lanka. The deliberations could extend to Wednesday. The meeting became possible after Denmark got together 17 of the UN body's 47 member countries to press for the special session to probe charges that Colombo violated human rights and committed "war crimes".

A minimum of 16 signatures is a must to convene a special session.

This follows the deaths of thousands - according to UN statistics - in the heavy fighting the past few months between the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), leading to the decimation of the once formidable rebel group exactly a week ago.

Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka's ambassador and special representative to the UN in Geneva, alleged that a section of the West had attempted to prevent the military defeat of the LTTE and save at least a section of its leadership.

"Having failed, this (special session) is a punitive measure," Jayatilleka told IANS in a telephonic interview.

He alleged that the LTTE had enjoyed a degree of patronage in some Western countries and sought to know if these countries would ever accord a similar status to the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Sri Lanka, he said, was confident of defeating any resolution detrimental to its interests with the help of friendly countries in which he listed India, Pakistan, Russia, China, Cuba, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua and Bolivia among others.

India and other countries are as much concerned as the others about human rights violations in Sri Lanka but resent the convening of a special session to discuss the issue.

The regular session of UN Human Rights Council is due in the third week of June, and Sri Lanka could have been discussed then.

The feeling in New Delhi is that some Western countries appear to be playing a larger game, perhaps setting a precedent to convene similar special sessions vis-à-vis other countries in the name of human rights. There is also growing disquiet over the way bodies like the UN Human Rights Council do not take seriously terror acts of powerful non-state actors such as the LTTE.

Britain, which along with Canada is home to tens of thousands of Tamils, has taken a visibly aggressive line against Sri Lanka, accusing its military of killing thousands in the name of fighting the LTTE.

A section of the West is also reportedly miffed with Colombo over the killing of a section of LTTE leaders who had apparently wanted to surrender to the army when the war was nearing its end.

Jayatilleka said it was regrettable that Sri Lanka was being pulled up when the world should be thanking it for crushing "one of the biggest brand names in the international terror market".

"They are playing a dangerous game of pandering to militarized lobbies in their own countries," he said, referring to Europe and the pro-LTTE Tamils. He warned that if Europe had its way at the special session, it would lead to "hardening of sentiments in Sri Lanka, narrowing of political space and be profoundly counter-productive".

karatecatman · Guest

OBSERVER UK
Up to 30,000 'disabled' by Sri Lankan shells

Up to 30,000 Tamil civilians have been left severely disabled by Sri Lankan army shelling in the so-called 'no-fire zone', it has been revealed.

By Dean Nelson in Trincomalee
25 May 2009

Aid workers said one in ten of the 280,000 civilian refugees who fled the Sri Lankan army's final onslaught against the Tamil Tiger rebels had either lost limbs or been so badly injured they urgently needed prosthetic limbs or wheelchairs to regain their mobility.

The scale of civilian casualties who have been maimed in the war was disclosed by the award-winning French charity Handicap International, which works with the victims of war throughout the world.

Tamil Tigers 'silence their guns' after Sri Lankan president claims victoryThe charity, which has a small factory producing artificial limbs in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka's eastern province, has opened an emergency unit at one of the centres for people who fled the fighting, and is working with other suppliers to meet what it described a "huge demand".

Aid workers said nearly all of the people had been the victims of relentless Sri Lankan shelling of the civilian safe zone, where the last of the Tamil Tiger leadership made its last stand before it was wiped out last week.

The disclosure of thousands of severely maimed and disabled civilian victims contradicts the claims of Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has said his army rescued 280,000 "hostages" without any civilian casualties.

The injured are being held in hospitals throughout the country and camps in the north which are off-limits to journalists and open only to a small number of specialist aid workers.

Handicap International's Sri Lanka director Satish Misra said the number of maimed could be "about 25,000 to 30,000 people".

He said he had established an emergency centre at Vavuniya last year in anticipation of the demand, and that a team of specialist physiotherapists and occupational therapists were now working with the victims.

Their work has been hampered by a government ban on refugees leaving the camp which means the wounded cannot be taken to his factory in Batticaloa, on the eastern coast, where new artificial limbs are fitted and the patients are trained in their use.

"We can't start fitting the prosthetic yet because it's difficult while the people are not allowed out of the camps. The limbs must be fitting and people must be trained how to use them," he said.

One aid worker who has visited the refugee camps told the Daily Telegraph he had been shocked by the number of displaced civilians who had lost limbs in the recent fighting.

"We know of one person who lost his leg and his wife lost both her legs. They have an eight month old baby. They left the baby in the bunker to get food and were shelled when they came out. They are in Vavuniya camp," he said.

The conditions there and at other restricted camps in the north were the worst he had seen in a 20 year career of helping refugees in war zones around the world, he said.

Old people had died because they had lost their families and could not fend for themselves in the camps, while many children were alone without relatives to care for them. Many children were emaciated, he said, and skin diseases were widespread.

"There are 6,000 people in Polmoddai Camp. They're destitute, arrive in just the clothes they're wearing and put in tents which are excruciatingly hot. The camp is in the jungle, and there have been five people bitten by snakes. The camps at Vavuniya have open sewers, and have become a marshy mass of excrement.

"There are seriously injured people sent to camp in these unhygienic crowded conditions," he said.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Tigers acknowledged for the first time that their leader had been killed by the Sri Lankan army.

Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, was reported to have died last week in a last stand by the rebels and his body was displayed by the army.

Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the head of international relations for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said in a statement released on Sunday: "We announce today with inexpressible sadness and heavy hearts that our incomparable leader, the supreme commander of the LTTE, attained martyrdom fighting the Sri Lankan government."

The admission came as Father Amalraj, a Roman Catholic priest who was inside the no-fire zone until the day before the Tigers announced their surrender, gave an annount of the terror of living under the constant shelling.

"The people were targets for both side", he told the Times.

"There was heavy shelling from the army side. The LTTE shot people. The army were trying to capture us. The people were caught in between in the last moment for the LTTE and the crucial point in the battle for the army. I cannot say which side was crueller."

People in the zone had cowered in improvised bunkers built on the beach for weeks on end to escape the shelling, he said.

"The shelling was just like raining.

"Within this two square kilometres, there were more than 100,000 people, packed in and shells raining down."

A terrible human tragedy.

karatecatman · Guest

www.zeenews.com/news534333.html
Allow 'free access' to aid agencies: Former PM tells Lanka
Colombo, May 25: Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe on Monday asked the Government to allow "free access" to aid agencies to camps where the displaced Tamil civilians are lodged.

He also said the Government should try to resettle at least 80 per cent of the displaced civilians in their towns and villages by this year.

"ICRC and the UN relief agencies should be given free access for development of Wanni and rehabilitation of the refugees. We need international help. This year government should target 80-90 per cent resettlement of the Tamil people in Wanni," he told reporters.

"The UN agencies should be allowed free access to the IDP camps," he said.

Wickremasinghe said while President Mahinda Rajapaksa "finished the LTTE and terrorism" in the country, other Sri Lankan leaders also played a role in defeating the Tiger rebels by weakening the outfit.

"During my period, the Ceasefire Agreement was brought which to a great extend weakened LTTE during 2002-04," he said, adding that at least 4,000 tiger rebels had surrendered during that time, he said.

He said his party is willing to help the government in rehabilitating and resettling the displaced people.

karatecatman · Guest

www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hby2zd9e79vqmk4l1FM0zXofangAD98DCS700
Sri Lanka's Tamils vie for leadership role
By RAVI NESSMAN

MAY 25, 2009

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Behind sandbagged walls, a driveway lined with metal spikes, a battery of security cameras and rifle-wielding bodyguards sits the man who would be the next leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil community.

Douglas Devananda, a former militant leader who bears the scars of nearly a dozen assassination attempts by the rival Tamil Tigers, tells the AP that with the rebels' defeat he is ready to assume the leadership of the minority group's struggle for greater political power.

"Now the path is clear, we want speedy action," said Devananda, a government minister who also leads a Tamil paramilitary group.

The death of Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran — who targeted government leaders and Tamil rivals with equal zeal — has left a huge void in the Tamil nationalist movement at a crucial moment when the government is promising to negotiate an end to the country's ethnic divide.

Among those vying with Devananda are a former rebel commander whose defection to the government side helped destroy the group, the Tamil Tigers' main ally in parliament and an intellectual critic of both the government and the rebels.

Nearly all say the path to peace lies in the government devolving authority to the provinces, which would give the Tamils more control over their own affairs in the north and east. But they differ on the degree of power sharing, with some demanding the provinces be essentially self governing and others saying control over social services would be enough.

How much support they have among the Tamil community, and whether any of them would be seen as a legitimate negotiator with the government, is difficult to judge since there has not been a legitimate election in Tamil areas for decades.

Some are seen as government quislings, others as frontmen for the rebels who sent hit squads to kill those who dared challenge Prabhakaran's leadership.

Other potential leaders left the country years ago — under threat or simply seeking a better life far from the war.

"The Tamil leadership is fragmented and facing a daunting task in regaining legitimacy," said Vasantha Sritharan, a political analyst and a leader of the Jaffna branch of the University Teachers for Human Rights.

Devananda, 52, is blind in one eye and half deaf after 11 attempts on his life blamed on the Tamil Tigers. Two years ago, a women with a bomb in her bra blew herself up at Devananda's Social Welfare Ministry, killing one of his top aides. A metal cabinet still standing in the waiting room is pocked with shrapnel.

But Devananda has outlived his nemesis, who was killed last week along with most of the Tamil Tiger leadership in the final battles of the quarter-century war here.

"The demon is gone," said Devananda, a feared paramilitary leader himself.

Devananda came of age in a time of nationalist fervor among the Tamils, who had long chafed under what they see as the discriminatory rule of the Sinhalese majority. Many saw no future for themselves in Sri Lanka and began demanding an independent state of their own in the north and east that they called Eelam.

Devananda joined one of many competing militant groups and was sent to Lebanon in 1978 for training by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah group and several years later to Syria for training by other Palestinian militants. In Sri Lanka, he helped lead attacks on Sri Lankan forces.

When Prabhakaran began gunning down his rivals, Devananda and his Eelam People's Democratic Party linked up with the very government they had fought.

The Tamils have serious political grievances, Devananda said, but the community should turn away from violence and calls for independence given the government's promises to negotiate.

"If we can solve this amicably, what is the need for a separate state," he said in his cavernous, heavily guarded office.

He said he planned to contest eventual elections in the north. But his candidacy is complicated by his band of armed militants, who are accused of killing, kidnapping and terrorizing Tamils in parts of the north and east.

Across Colombo, in another heavily guarded government ministry, sits a former Tamil Tiger military commander once known as Col. Karuna.

Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan's defection to the government side in 2004 along with thousands of rebel fighters weakened the Tamil Tigers and helped bring about their eventual demise. He still controls a violent militia accused of widespread violence across the east. Now he says he wants to be the Tamils' representative in national politics. But he may have gone too far in his embrace of the government.

He has joined the ruling party, accepted a ministry and perhaps most damning of all, he addressed a victory rally last week in the language of the Sinhalese majority.

Sitting in front of a large Sri Lankan flag at a desk adorned with another smaller national flag, Muralitharan praised President Mahinda Rajapaksa for defeating the rebels and said Tamils have nothing to fear.

"Tamil people can believe the government," he said.

Another contender for the leadership mantle is Rajavarothayam Sambanthan, a lawmaker from the Tamil National Alliance, which has 22 seats in parliament and was closely allied with the rebels until the final days of the war when it suddenly disavowed the group.

Yet another would-be leader is Veerasingham Anandasangaree, a veteran politician who leads the Tamil United Liberation Front, which fell out with the rebels over its call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Anandasangaree dismissed his rivals in the Tamil National Alliance as rebel puppets, Karuna as "a dead person" to the community and Devananda as a "threat to democracy, a threat to people's freedom."

His group, one of the oldest and most respected of the Tamil organizations, was shut out in the last election under orders from Prabhakaran, who often directed the Tamil vote from the barrel of a gun, Anandasangaree said.

"We have no parliamentary representation at all. Other than that, we have the support of the people and the faith of the people," he said.

Nimish · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 9:48 am Post subject:

I think it's time for quickly organizing elections in the Tamil areas of SL - and let the Tamils there democratically elect their leaders who will participate in the SL govt.
_________________
We miss you Nalini!

karatecatman · Guest

TELEGRAPH LONDON
Sri Lanka accused of 'ethnic cleansing' of Tamil areas

The Sri Lankan government has been accused of launching a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" following its victory over the Tamil Tigers in the country's 26 year civil war.

By Dean Nelson in Trincomalee
25 May 2009

Aid officials, human rights campaigners and politicians claim Tamils have been driven out of areas in the north-east of the country by killings and kidnappings carried out by pro-government militias.

They say the government has simultaneously encouraged members of the Sinhalese majority in the south to relocate to the vacated villages.

One foreign charity worker told the Daily Telegraph the number of Tamils disappearing in and around Trincomalee, 50 miles south of the final conflict zone in Mullaitivu, had been increasing in the last three months.

He claimed to have known 15 of the disappeared, three of whom had been found dead. He said all three bodies showed signs of torture, while two were found with their hands tied behind their backs and single bullet wounds in their heads.

Another aid worker said the killings were part of a strategy to drive out the Tamils.

"Eastern province is vulnerable, there's cleansing by the Sinhalese. There will be more problems with land grabbing. The demography changes and the Tamils who are the majority will soon become a minority," he said.

He claimed many villagers had moved out after the army declared their land to be part of a 'high security zone' and Sinhalese had been given incentives to move in to provide support services to new military bases.

Many Tamils sold their homes and land at below-market prices after members of their families had been killed or had disappeared, he said.

One western human rights advocate said Tamils in and around Trincomalee were terrified because they believed the police were either complicit in, or indifferent to, the numbers disappearing or found dead. "There's no investigation. It's a climate of terror and impunity," he said.

A local campaigner for the families of the disappeared said the killings were speeding the flight of Tamils from the area. "When there's a killing other Tamils move out. Who goes to the Sinhalese police? You either live under threat or you move out," he said.

He said much of the "ethnic cleansing" was being done in the name of economic development in which Tamil villagers were being moved out to make way for new roads, power plants and irrigation schemes, while Sinhalese workers were being drafted in with incentives including free land and housing.

"Thousands of Sinhalese are coming in, getting government land and government assistance from the south. It's causing huge tensions," he said.

He and others fear this model will now be applied to the north where the final army onslaught to defeat the Tamil Tigers left 95 per cent of the buildings demolished or heavily damaged.

Since the victory earlier this month, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has been under pressure to 'win the peace' with a generous devolution package for Tamils in the north.

Ministers have said they want to break the identification of the Tamils with the northern and eastern provinces and integrate them into the Sinhalese majority population throughout the country.

In Colombo, billboard posters have contrasted the "divided" pre-victory Sri Lanka, with the Tamil north and east shaded red, and the "united" post-war island.

Ministers have said billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild the area's roads, buildings, schools, hospitals and water, electricity and communications infrastructure. Community leaders and Tamil politicians fear this will mean a further influx of Sinhalese.

R. Sampanthan, the parliamentary leader of the Tamil National Alliance and an MP for Trincomalee said he shared these fears. A new road being constructed from Serubilla, a Sinhalese village in Trincomalee district to Polonaruwa, a Tamil village, was under construction and Sinhalese families were being settled on either side of the road as it snakes further north-east.

"It's ethnic cleansing, and we're concerned that this is what they will also do in the north," he said.

karatecatman · Guest

TELEGRAPH LONDON
Sri Lanka's government deliberately concealed official casualty figures

Sri Lanka's government has deliberately concealed official figures showing the number of civilians wounded in the final battle with the Tamil Tigers.

By Dean Nelson in Trincomalee
23 May 2009

While Sri Lankan officials boasted last week that not a drop of civilian blood was spilt by the army as it drove the Tamil Tigers from their last remaining enclave, government files record that more than 3,000 people from the conflict zone were treated for serious injuries in a single town.

Of 10,191 patients evacuated to the north eastern port of Trincomalee from the “no-fire zone” in Mullaitivu between February and May 9, a total of 3,113 were recorded as “seriously wounded”, according to documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph. Their injuries including deep abdominal wounds and the loss of hands, feet and limbs.

Aid workers familiar with events during the final army push before the separatist terror group surrendered said that these figures - which have been recorded in government files but are publicly denied - themselves represent only a fraction of the overall casualties. Up to 60 per cent of the more than 250,000 people who fled the fighting have injuries caused by army shelling, mortar fire and gunshots, the aid workers said.

"They are major wounds – legs broken, open abdomens, head injuries and limbs removed. All from shelling and other flying objects," said one medical official who had worked with the wounded.

Another rescue official said that none of the patients had been injured by Tamil Tiger land mines, which the government has claimed as the cause of any civilian injuries among the displaced Tamils now living in squalid refugee camps.

The full extent of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in northern Sri Lanka was laid bare on Saturday when Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, visited refugee camps in the north-east of the country. He was the first senior world figure to visit since the government said it had ended the 26-year insurgency last week.

After arriving in Colombo, he flew by helicopter over the war zone. Below him lay the tiny strip of land including the so-called "no-fire zone" where the Tigers held their last stand in the bloody conclusion to the war. Pockmarked with craters, it was dotted with the detritus of destruction - burnt-out vehicles, charred buildings and a tattered and abandoned tent city.

Mr Ban then toured Manik Farm, the main refugee camp where more than 200,000 refugees are sheltering in a densely crowded mishmash of corrugated iron shacks and tents. He also visited a field hospital, where 100 elderly patients, some with gaping wounds and clearly emaciated and malnourished, lay on blankets exposed to the elements.

"I'm very moved after what I have seen," said Mr Ban. "I've seen so many wounded." He said those who had fled the fighting between Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces were in urgent need of food, water and sanitation, and promised to press the Sri Lankan government to allow aid agencies access.

The camp, referred to by Sri Lankan authorities as a "welfare village," was surrounded by barbed wire and under heavy guard. The government has been accused of holding civilians in order to flush out any remaining Tiger fighters who might be among them, but it has recently pledged to return them to their home districts by the end of the year.

Mr Ban accepted President Mahinda Rajapakse's commitment to help those civilians caught up in the conflict. "It is time for Sri Lankans to heal the wounds and unite," he said.

Critics of the Sri Lankan government are demanding war crimes prosecutions. Mr Ban promised firm action in light of the heavy shelling during the conflict. "Wherever there are serious violations of human rights as well as international humanitarian law, proper investigation should be instituted," he said.

In Trincomalee, 50 miles south of the final battle ground in Mullaitivu, a medical aid worker graphically described to The Sunday Telegraph the condition of some of the victims of the fighting. One woman had arrived after losing her husband, children and both her legs in an army shell attack.

"She was with her husband, with her two-year-old baby on her lap, and a boy of five and a girl of seven in front of her," he said. "They were eating when suddenly a shell fell between them. She lost her legs. She is now alone, and was crying out, 'Who will look after me?'

"I have seen people without arms, legs, crying about their children, husbands and families. It is a human disaster."

It is however a disaster which the government is still trying to conceal, he added, because it does not want witnesses to the true suffering it unleashed on innocent civilians trapped in the war zone.

In Trincomalee, a sleepy tropical paradise town lined with bamboo-fenced bungalows and coconut palms, there are mixed feelings about the end of the war, but the strongest emotion, fear, is hidden behind the closed doors of its large number of Tamil homes. "People are terrified, too scared to speak," said one official, who asked not to be named.

One aid worker said many Tamil staff had been sent home from their offices as the local Sinhalese population held street parties to celebrate what the government calls a victory against terrorism, but which the many locals regard as the defeat of the one group which stood up for them and offered any protection.

Another aid worker said the local Sinhalese community had raised money to pay for these victory parties from Tamil families. Groups of boisterous government supporters had called at their homes demanding they give generously, and the Tamils had felt too afraid to refuse.

Similar celebrations were held across Sri Lanka last week. Outside Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital in Colombo, trucks and tuk-tuks flew the national flag as jubilant government supporters cheered their victory against the Tamil Tigers.

Within the sprawling white hospital, where the wards are guarded by heavily armed soldiers and patrolled by stout female matrons in saris, Tamil children and their grieving parents could hear the sounds of a party being thrown at their expense.

As groups of revellers made conga lines in the streets, dancing to a Sinhalese drumbeat, the silent victims admitted to one of the world's biggest paediatric hospitals were paying for Colombo's victory as they nursed their broken bones and severed limbs. Some had lost mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers for ever.

As the Sinhalese majority celebrated an inevitable but until recently unthinkable victory, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose face beams down from hoardings on almost every street corner, invited the Tamil minority to share their jubilation.

His invitation, however, was addressed to them not as the Tamils they have always considered themselves to be, but the patriotic Sri Lankans they now must become if they are to be accepted in the new order.

From now on, President Rajapaksa said in his victory speech to the Sri Lankan parliament, they would no longer exist as Tamils. "No longer are the Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Malays and any others minorities," he said. "There are only two peoples in this country. One is the people that love this country. The other comprises the small groups that have no love for the land of their birth. Those who do not love their country are now a lesser group."

The Sunday Telegraph was prevented from entering the hospital to ask the patients what conditions in the no-fire zone had been like, and was instead interrogated by police.

In the climate of fear that the government has induced, it emerged that only the defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is the president's brother, could grant the necessary permission - and he refused to discuss any such requests.

Three senior doctors who treated patients in the "safe zone" throughout the relentless shelling are now in custody and are being treated as terrorist suspects for passing independent updates on casualties to the outside world, including information on the bombing of field hospitals.

Dr Thangamutha Sathiyamoorthy, the regional director of health services in Kilinochchi, Dr V. Shanmugarajah, medical superintendent at the Mullivaaykkaal field hospital and Dr Thurairaja Varatharajah, the regional director in Mullaitivu, are believed to be undergoing interrogation at the feared Terrorist Investigation Division headquarters in Colombo.

A western diplomat said he hoped the men told their interrogators "what they want to hear" to save themselves. He said he expected they would soon be produced at a government press conference to declare that they had released bogus casualty figures under duress from Tiger fighters and propagandists.

Another silent witness is S. Kanagaratnam, a Tamil National Alliance MP who was caught in the "no-fire zone" with his constituents as the Tamil Tigers retreated from the army's offensive.

His party leader, R. Sampanthan, said that despite his colleague being an MP he was being held and prevented from returning to Colombo - where he might tell the world what really happened to civilians in the cross-fire.

"Whenever he spoke to me [by telephone] he was talking about the shelling. He said there was continuous shelling, resulting in a large number of persons being injured. They had been confined to bunkers, uncertain about what would happen to them," said Mr Sampanthan.

karatecatman · Guest

Sri Lanka to add soldiers to prevent Tiger return
By KRISHAN FRANCIS

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's military said it plans to enlist at least 100,000 more soldiers to head off any resurgence of the separatist Tamil Tigers, who were routed by government forces last week to end a quarter century of civil war.

The troop buildup comes amid concern that remnants of the rebel group living abroad may try to resurrect it under new leadership, army commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a television interview Monday.

"There may be people abroad trying to promote a new leader and stage a comeback ," Fonseka told state-run Independent Television Network. "Our strength is 200,000 and it will become 300,000 soon. It will not be easy for them to build up a terror group as they did before."

The army killed all of the rebels' front-line and second-level military leaders — including rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran — and destroyed the Tigers' political and administrative leadership, crippling the group, Fonseka said.

Some 22,000 rebel fighters were killed in the last phase of fighting that started in 2006 and another 9,000 rebel fighters surrendered to the army, Fonseka said. Still, one prominent rebel leader remains at large — Selvarasa Pathmanathan, a smuggling mastermind sought by Interpol.

After killing the rebel leaders, soldiers are now going after a number of suicide bombers believed hiding in capital, Colombo, and other ethnic Sinhalese-majority towns. There are also smaller rebel teams in jungles, Fonseka said.

Fonseka called on more men to enlist in order to keep the rebels from rebuilding.

"We like to see young men joining us more quickly," he said. "We don't mind enlisting even 10,000 a month; we need a lot more soldiers to reach our goal."

Sri Lanka announced Monday it would hold elections for two key town councils in the war-torn north.

Local Government Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon said the government would start with elections to the Jaffna and Vavuniya town councils. Both those areas lay just outside the de facto state the rebels had controlled in the north.

Jaffna is considered the cultural center of the ethnic Tamil minority on whose behalf the Tamil Tigers fought.

Tennakoon said these would be the first local elections in the area since 1998 and called them "the first step toward ensuring the democratic rights of the people in the north."

The elections commission will soon announce the date of the poll.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said he now intends to negotiate a political compromise to address the Tamils' grievances.

The recent war victories have boosted the popularity of Rajapaksa's coalition — the United People's Freedom Alliance — which has swept recent elections for provincial assemblies.

Lanka, hopefully isn't on its way to becoming a 'wasteland'. The intellectuals and diaspora who matter have all left. Lanka should now reach out to them for a wider solution instead of looking at solving everything by brute force. This is where a statesman is needed -- probably a Singapore like-Lee figure.

karatecatman · Guest

AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
Elections called in Tamil towns
May 26, 2009
A week after declaring victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels, the Sri Lankan Government has announced local elections in two key parts of the mainly Tamil north, the towns of Jaffna and Vavuniya.

These will be the first local elections in the towns for more than a decade.

"People want to select their own members and we want to give them that support," the minister of local government, Janaka Bandara, told the BBC.

The director of government information, Anusha Palpita, said the elections were scheduled to be held by August 8 at the latest, and described it as the first step to established democracy in the north after the war.

The military says it is holding more than 9,000 Tamil Tiger suspects for screening.

karatecatman · Guest

www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/cult-of-personality-grows-around-sri-lankas-leader/article1152585/
Cult of personality grows around Sri Lanka's leader

Since the Tigers' defeat, the Buddhist majority sees Mahinda Rajapaksa as a living god
Colombo —
Globe and Mail
May. 26, 2009

As the President's motorcade passed slowly through Colombo Monday, 20-year-old university student Chaturi Waidyasekera pressed her head to the ground, then rose and chanted, “Praise our king”

Dozens of others did the same, beneath billboards that pictured Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the white robes of a Buddhist deity. Ms. Waidyasekera explained, calmly, that she believes the elected leader of Sri Lanka should remain in office for life because last week he ended a 26-year civil war with the violent defeat of the Tamil Tigers.

“For once in our history we have a leader who has made our island into one kingdom,” she said. “Why do we need elections any more? He is the king we need.” She was actually one of the more moderate voices along the route: For others, the President was nothing less than a living god.

After the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were defeated last week, it seemed like this was simply a victory celebration, a mass depressurizing of a people made tense by years of war. Members of Sri Lanka's majority, Sinhalese-speaking Buddhists, took to the streets in a celebration that lasted days.

But in the days since, it has evolved into something larger. Over the weekend, huge statues of the President began appearing along the pitted two-lane highways that cross the island. In the cities, large billboards and posters are placed on every block, showing the President in white robes, or in fatigues, hugging his brother, Gotabaya, the Defence Secretary. (His other brother, Chamal, is Ports and Aviation Minister.) At first, they carried slogans like “Mission Accomplished.” But now new ones have begun to appear, reading “King Mahinda Rajapaksa: Our saviour.” It is impossible to avoid them: They are on every street corner, every public building, every shop front.

On state television, an advertisement seems to run several times every hour in which a woman sings, over utopian scenes of loyal workers, that the President has saved the nation and deserves to be crowned king.

“The messaging has been singularly Buddhist in its nature and expression,” says Sanjana Hattotuwa, a democracy activist with the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo.

“The defeat of the LTTE is being portrayed as the establishment of one country along the lines of the Sinhala kingdoms of old times, with the deification of the President as a religious king, and the victory of the army as an event foretold in the Mahawansa, the Sinhala Buddhist historical chronicle.”

All of this is deeply alarming for the Tamil-speaking, mainly Hindu minority, who represent 13 per cent of the population, or about two million people, and whose language, religion and mythologies have been notably absent from Mr. Rajapaksa's grandiose moment.

While he did deliver a few phrases of well-practised Tamil in a speech to parliament – probably the first time any Sri Lankan leader has done so since independence from British rule in 1948 – he has subsequently delivered addresses in which he has said the country will be rebuilt in “Buddhist values,” and declared that there will be “no more minorities,” a phrase meant to promote universal values, his supporters say, but which Tamils see as another declaration of Buddhist superiority.

Never before has a leader of this traditionally mild-mannered democracy adopted such a regal stature, and never before have the people seemed so willing to deify a leader. This is a country, after all, whose founders, memorialized in statues in Colombo's Independence Square, are lawyers in business suits.

Larger-than-life figures have figured in this island's politics, but the stakes have always been partisan and the dramas have usually been of the operatic, and sometimes soap-operatic, variety, such as the long-running feud between president Chandrika Kumaratunga and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, which paralyzed the legislature until Mr. Rajapaksa won the presidency in 2006.

Since his election, Mr. Rajapaksa has seen the opposition parties wither and fragment, leaving him with a hold on power that could last for years, even decades. At the same time, he has aligned Sri Lanka away from the United States, Britain and Europe – which initially supported his unyielding approach to defeating the Tigers but then backed away – and toward China, Russia, Japan and Iran, which have supported and armed his struggle.

In the years before his election, you had to travel to the island's LTTE-controlled north to see a full-scale cult of personality, with images of the leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, on every wall and a population revering him as a godlike figure. Today, that has become the style of politics in the south. Along with it has come a quick and sometimes total condemnation of anyone who dares question the execution of the war.

“It seems to be true what they say, that you have to become something in order to defeat it,” Mr. Hattotuwa says. “This deification is of an unprecedented degree, it is absolute. The commander-in-chief has unprecedented social and political support across the country. This is beyond politics, it is religion and mythology.”

karatecatman · Guest

OBSERVER UK
Sri Lanka: child victims of the battle to end a bloody civil war

President said Tamil Tigers were defeated without inflicting civilian casualties

Gethin Chamberlain in Colombo
Sunday 24 May 2009 22.59 BST

Lying howling on a torn mattress, in a cot by a window overlooking the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, the wounded toddler was a pitiful sight.

A female relative fretted, trying to calm the girl down as the medics worked around her. The 18-month-old had been shot in the stomach in the final stages of the fighting in the north-east of the country and there was an ugly line of stitches across her abdomen where doctors had operated to remove the bullet. Her right leg was missing a chunk of flesh and had been gashed.

The little girl is one of thousands of casualties hidden away from public view in hospitals across Sri Lanka, guarded by soldiers and police who roam the wards. As soon as they are fit enough to be moved, the injured are returned to the grim internment camps that are home to approximately 300,000 people.

Health workers and human rights activists say that the country's medical services cannot handle the huge numbers of children and adults needing treatment for terrible injuries sustained during the final weeks of the fighting.

But the government appears determined to keep the true scale of the disaster out of the public eye, barring access to the hospitals and arresting three doctors who worked inside the war zone, accusing them of fabricating casualty figures.

According to unofficial UN figures obtained by the Guardian, more than 8,000 civilians were killed in the last four months of the war and more than 17,000 were wounded. The figures do not include those killed and injured in the final three days of the fighting. The Sri Lankan health ministry says it does not have up-to-date numbers.

UN sources say that initial analysis suggests an abnormally high number of child casualties, up to 45% of the overall total; a figure closer to 33% would have been expected. That would mean 3,600 children killed and 7,650 wounded, although some of those are believed to have later died from the injuries because of a lack of facilities to treat them.

After the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, claimed last week that victory was achieved without spilling a drop of civilian blood, the Guardian managed to gain access to the Lady Ridgeway hospital for children in Colombo on Saturday and spoke to staff to try to assess the true picture.

The ward on the sixth floor, where some of the most seriously injured children are being treated, was a depressing sight. Small children with amputated limbs, gunshot wounds and burns lay in cots around the ward.

The matron said they had received many such cases, brought down from the war zone for treatment in the specialist children's hospital, but she could not say how many. "This girl was shot in the stomach," she said, gesturing to the child screaming in the cot by the window. "The stitches are from where the doctors removed the bullet."

Other children sat on chairs at the side of the ward, a girl with her arm in plaster, a boy with what appeared to be burns. Others lay in cots with gauze and bandages on their wounds. The wards were clean and tidy and the staff attentive, fussing over their patients, the nurses wearing immaculate uniforms. They appeared surprised to receive a visitor as the ministry of defence had repeatedly refused requests for permission to enter the hospital.

The matron said the children would be treated and then sent back with their parents to the camps around Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka once they were well enough to be moved. It was not possible to establish how each child had received its injuries and from which side in the conflict.

Staff would not allow the patients or their relatives to be interviewed without the permission of the hospital director, who refused and ordered the Guardian to leave.

But according to others who have been into other hospitals around the country, the situation is the same everywhere.

Wards are packed with the casualties of the war, with doctors struggling to cope with the sheer volume of casualties.

"Children have suffered horrendously and disproportionately," said James Elder, Unicef's spokesman in Colombo. "The medical system is stretched to breaking point dealing with children who have been injured."

He urged the government to allow injured children and their parents to leave the camps so that they could recuperate in a more appropriate environment.

Bhavani Fonseka, from the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives, said that the government appeared determined to prove that fewer people had been killed and injured than was reported while the fighting was going on.

"There is a policy of don't talk, keep it under wraps," she said. "But the truth is that there are so many injured that they have had to ship them to hospitals around the country. It is huge numbers if you look at the kids spread around the hospitals."

Fonseka, who had visited two hospitals, said she had seen children with both legs or both arms amputated. "We are going to have a generation of amputees," she said.

She added that the situation was made worse for some of the traumatised children because they were being guarded by members of the same armed forces who were responsible, in some cases, for their injuries.

The UN is understood to be concerned about the lack of medical facilities inside the camps and at the government's reluctance to make proper use of outside help.

During a visit to the internment camps on Saturday, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, met one young girl with wounds to both her legs. She told him that she had been hit by shrapnel but that there were no medical facilities in the camp where she could undergo surgery and no pain relief available.

Meanwhile Rajapaksa rejected an appeal by Ban to lift restrictions on aid delivery to the overcrowded camps.

The president said that security had to be assured "in view of the likely presence of LTTE [Tamil Tiger] infiltrators" among the refugees.

"As conditions improved, especially with regard to security, there would be no objections to such assistance, from organisations that were genuinely interested in the wellbeing" of the displaced Tamils, he said.

In a separate development a statement from the LTTE confirmed for the first time that their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, had been killed. The body of Prabhakaran was produced by the Sri Lankan army last week. Pictures showed him lying with eyes open and a cloth covering an apparent deadly head wound.

Yesterday the BBC said that it had received a statement signed by the LTTE's head of international relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan. The statement said their "incomparable leader" had "attained martyrdom".

karatecatman · Guest

From The TiIMES UK

May 28, 2009

Sri Lanka forces West to retreat over ‘war crimes’ with victory at UN

Aid agencies are fearful of what the failure will mean for the 270,000 Sri Lankan civilians interned in camps

Catherine Philp in Colombo

Sri Lanka claimed a propaganda victory last night after the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution praising its defeat of the Tamil Tigers and condemning the rebels for using civilians as human shields.

China, India, Egypt and Cuba were among the 29 developing countries that backed a Sri Lankan-proposed resolution describing the conflict as a “domestic matter that doesn’t warrant outside interference”. The resolution also supported Colombo’s insistence on allowing aid group access to 270,000 civilians detained in camps only “as may be appropriate”.

The Sri Lanka Ambassador in Geneva said that European nations had failed with their “punitive and mean-spirited agenda” against his country. “This was a lesson that a handful of countries which depict themselves as the international community do not really constitute the majority,” Dayan Jayatilleka said. “The vast mass of humanity are in support of Sri Lanka.”

Western diplomats and human rights officials were shocked by the outcome at the end of an acrimonious two-day special session to examine the humanitarian and human rights situation in Sri Lanka after the blitzkrieg of the final military offensive that wiped out the Tiger force.

“The vote is extremely disappointing and is a low point for the Human Rights Council. It abandons hundreds of thousands of people in Sri Lanka to cynical political considerations,” Amnesty International said.

Sri Lanka, unable to stop the Human Rights Council taking up its case, rushed its own motion to the floor in time to beat a more censorious resolution tabled by Switzerland.

Twelve countries, mostly European and including Britain, opposed the resolution after failing to win support for their version, which called for unfettered access to detained civilians and an internal investigation of alleged war crimes by both sides.

The UN in Sri Lanka says that at least 7,000 civilians were killed in the first four months of the year alone, with the casualty rate sharply rising as the endgame approached. Many of those deaths are believed to have been caused by Sri Lankan army shelling. The Government denies that it caused a single civilian death, blaming all of them on the rebels.

Israel will be among the nations angered by last night’s result. The 47-member council, formed in 2006 to deal quickly with urgent humanitarian situations, succeeded in forcing an internal investigation on Israel over its recent offensive in Gaza, which killed an estimated 700 Palestinian civilians.

Western diplomats said that the result called into question the entire purpose of the Human Rights Council — where the 47 members sit as equals with no right of veto for any country. The United States only recently agreed to join it in the belief that the council had been reformed. Divisions between the West and the developing world were exposed last month when dozens of European and other ambassadors stormed out of the council during an inflammatory address by President Ahmadinejad of Iran.

Tom Porteous, the London director of Human Rights Watch, said: “The Human Rights Council had a chance to prove itself by calling for a serious inquiry into violations of the laws of war and human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, and they failed dismally.”

In Colombo, by contrast, there was a mood of jubilation for a government that has cast itself as a plucky minnow fighting the hypocrisy of large Western powers. Sri Lanka’s resolution passed with the support of powerful new allies such as China, which provided much of the weaponry used in its decisive defeat of the rebels.

“The support of the international community at the UNHRC is a clear endorsement of our effort to eliminate terrorism without a civilian bloodbath,” Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Sri Lankan Minister for Disaster Relief and Human Rights, said.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, had called on Tuesday for an international war crimes inquiry, saying she believed that both sides might be guilty of war crimes. The Tigers are accused of using civilians as human shields and those who fled the war have testified that rebel commanders fired on them to stop them escaping, killing many.

Of more immediate concern, though, is what the failure of the European-backed resolution will mean for the 270,000 civilians interned in camps run by the Sri Lankan Army. Aid agencies have been given only limited access to the sprawling camps and have been barred from bringing in vehicles for fear that Tiger cadres could use them to escape.

Sri Lanka has said that it will allow access to the camps in a month, after screening for former fighters is complete. On a military-led visit to the camps this week, though, officials admitted that no such screening was taking place and that captured fighters were taken to “rehabilitation camps” before they were registered there.

karatecatman · Guest

karatecatman · Guest

TIMES OF INDIA
Pak claims key role in win over LTTE
28 May 2009
PTI

LONDON: Pakistan's supply of high-tech military equipment and positioning of some of its highly trained army officers in Sri Lanka played a key role in the ultimate defeat of Tamil Tigers, Pakistani media has claimed.

"It was the Pakistani defence cooperation with Sri Lanka as the largest suppliers of high-tech military equipment that played a major role in the ultimate defeat of the LTTE at the hands of the Sri Lankan army," The News quoted well placed sources in the Pakistani establishment as saying.

The newspaper said the defence cooperation between Sri Lanka and Pakistan had grown significantly in recent years as Islamabad, unlike New Delhi, had no problems supplying the state-of-the-art weaponry to Lankan army to accelerate its counter-insurgency operations against the LTTE which finally ended with the killing of Tamil chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

It was exactly a year ago, in the first week of May 2008, that Sri Lankan army Chief Lt Gen Fonseka visited Pakistan and held detailed talks with his Pakistani counterpart Chief of Army Staff General Asfaq Parvez Kayani to finalise the purchase of high-tech arms for the Lankan armed forces, which were embroiled in an intense battle with the LTTE forces even at that time.

karatecatman · Guest

Foreign help sought to track down LTTE Leaders contacts
Sat, 2009-05-30 12:39
Hilary Rajakarunanayake, Editor – Sri Lanka, Asian Tribune

Colombo, 30 May, (Asiantribune.com): The Army Intelligence Unit has sought the help of Pakistan and other countries to trace persons who communicated with LTTE leaders through their satellite phones which have been recovered in Mullaitivu by the Army.

Although several LTTE connected persons living abroad said that they have no reason to fear because there are no SIM cards in satellite phones, the Pakistani ISI Intelligence Service has taped all satellite phone conversations, it is reliably learnt. The satellite phones of the LTTE leaders have been activated through a network in Malaysia.

Due to the discovery of the satellite phones of Prabhakaran Pulidevan, Nadesan and Pottu Amman, several businessmen, some media personnel and some Tamil politicians in Colombo have undergone a state of anxiety, said an Army official.

- Asian Tribune -

karatecatman · Guest

www.samaylive.com/news/demand-for-allparty-meet-on-lanka-govt-says-will-respond/632946.html
Demand for all-party meet on Lanka, govt says will 'respond'

Noor Khan
Tue, 09 Jun 2009
New Delhi, June 8 : Several MPs today expressed worries in Rajya Sabha over the plight of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, prompting the government to assure that it would give an "appropriate response" to the concerns of the members.

The assurance came after a number of MPs demanded an all-party meeting on the issue.

"Government will respond appropriately once the feeling of the House is conveyed to the Prime Minister on the issue," Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan told the Upper House, after several members raised concerns over the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils.

BJP's Venkaiah Naidu was the first to raise the issue. He said that reports emanating from Sri Lanka "are horrible, and there seems to be nothing less than a genocide" taking place there.

He said that the international community has not done much and the Prime Minister should call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue at length.

AIADMK's V Maitreyan, CPI's D Raja, CPI(M)'s Brinda Karat and a slew of Left MPs also joined the chorus demanding an all-party meeting, terming it the government's "moral responsibility" to look into the interests of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka.

P J Kurien and Santosh Bagrodia of Congress also associated themselves with the issue and urged the government to take up the matter with the Sri Lankan government.

karatecatman · Guest

http://news.rediff.com/column/2009/jun/04/is-it-the-end-of-the-ltte.htm
Is it the end of the LTTE?

Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd)

June 04, 2009
With the death of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief V Prabhakaran and the decimation of most of its leadership, Sri Lanka [Images] has declared victory in Jaffna. The existence of the LTTE [Images] as an organised body that was a 'virtual' government in northern Sri Lanka has come to an end. But it would be hasty to come to a conclusion that it also means end to the Tamil insurgency and the return of peace to the island nation.
The LTTE made several cardinal mistakes. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi [Images] turned public opinion against it, so much so that even when the Congress was not in power, the National Democratic Alliance government also did not dare deal with it.

It needs to be noted that in 1987 when the Indian Peace Keeping Force went to Sri Lanka, it went there to save the Tamils from the genocidal tactics of the Lankan army. On a visit to Jaffna in 1989, I was told that till the time the break did not take place, the LTTE top brass used to dine in the Indian Army [Images] mess! The LTTE misread the Indian intention which was to save Tamils, but not help create a separate Tamil Eelam. India has been steadfast on this support to Sri Lankan unity.

The LTTE forgot that Eelam was a means to an end -- that is a place of honour for Tamils and preservation of their identity and culture. By obdurately focussing on 'all or nothing' strategy, the LTTE lost everything and has brought upon untold misery on the Tamil people of Jaffna.

The LTTE also failed to see the altered world situation after the 9/11 attacks in the United States. In the aftermath of that attack, a world consensus has been built around zero tolerance for terrorism and secessionism. Sri Lankan diplomacy was skilful and successful in hiding its own obduracy and painted the LTTE in the darkest possible colours.

Finally, Prabahkaran paid the price of forgetting cardinal rules of insurgency. It is true that the LTTE had reached the last stage of its guerrilla struggle in that it was capable of open confrontation with the regular Sri Lankan army.

But as Sri Lanka built its military muscle with Chinese and Pakistani help, the LTTE ought to ceded territory and gone back to its underground days to survive to fight another day. Instead, it chose open defiance and annihilation.

In the closing stages of current Sri Lankan offensive, the LTTE found itself friendless. The Sri Lankans also cleverly timed their offensive to coincide with Indian elections when Indian decision-making went on a limbo and gave the Lankans ample time to finish off the LTTE militarily.

What next?

Insurgency is like an amoeba that changes shape, size and reproduces itself.

If reports in the Western media are to be believed, close to 20,000 Tamil civilians were been killed in the present offensive. The whole of Jaffna has been turned into a concentration camp. While the LTTE may have been neutralised, an organisation like the Palestinian 'Black September' may well have taken birth.

It was Black September, born in aftermath of the Jordanian offensive against the Palestinians, that pioneered aircraft hijacking and started a cult of terrorism in the Middle East. There is real fear that the brutal tactics of Sri Lankan army may produce this result.

In its six decade long experience of dealing with insurgencies India has never used heavy weapons like artillery or air power against the insurgents. In this the Lankans seem to be following their Pakistani brethren.

A few years ago, an European diplomat involved in the peace process in Sri Lanka mentioned to me that both sides were obdurate. While the LTTE has been rightly criticised for its demand for Eelam, the Sri Lankans have escaped censure. Sri Lanka has steadfastly refused to give a federal structure a chance.

While talking to then foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar (assassinated by the LTTE later) in 1996, I mentioned that a status like that of Kashmir in the Indian Union would certainly satisfy most Tamils.

Unfortunately the mass of Sinhala opinion in Sri Lanka equates national unity with a unitary form of government. Such is the vehemence of Sinhala opinion on this issue that all talk of federal solution is denounced as treachery.

Historical roots

In terms of sheer longevity, the Sinhala-Tamil conflict is mother of all, dating back to the 67 BC war between King Elara (after whom Eelam is named) of Jaffna and King Duttagamini of Sri Lanka.

Unlike India, Sri Lanka did not have well-developed political parties at the time of independence. The Buddhist clergy was the most well knit organisation in the country with influence down to the small community levels. This was through the control that the clergy had over the educational institutions.

While not willing to play a direct political role, the clergy nevertheless had its own ideas of how and independent Lanka should be run. Solomon Bandaranaike and his Sri Lanka Freedom Party provided that vehicle.

At independence every major group in Lanka was a victim of feeling of insecurity. The plantation workers were afraid of deportation, the Moors (Muslims) were afraid of being lumped with the Tamils as they spoke the same language, the Sinhalese were afraid that the Jaffna Tamils together with the plantation workers will dominate them and the Burghers (a mixed race of Sinhalese-Europeans) simply emigrated to Australia [Images] en masse.

The 'credit' for sharpening the Sinhala-Tamil divide goes to the Sri Lanka Freedom party.

The elements of the divide were present even before his advent in 1956. He and his party, exclusively dependent on Buddhist Sinhala support, converted Lanka from a multi-ethnic nation to a Sinhala nation with Buddhism as its state religion and Sinhala as the state language and Sinhalese as the only legitimate citizens.

The Tamil demand for separatism was the logical culmination and reaction to the doctrine of Lankan nationalism that was 'exclusively' Sinhalese.

The religious fervour generated by the 2,500th death anniversary of Buddha in 1956, was utilised by the Buddhist clergy to push their agenda of ethnic cleansing of Sri Lanka of all non Buddhist elements. It is here Banadarnaike stepped in and gave this retrograde move a political direction and colour.

The first target of Sinhala chauvinism was, however, not the Lankan Tamils, but the Christians. In a systematic move the Christian institutions of learning and teaching were discriminated against and forced to either flee the country or shut down.

Having achieved success on the Christian front the next target were the plantation workers who had come to Sri Lanka nearly 150 years ago. Under the ill-conceived Shastri-Sirimavo Accord [Images], India took back the plantation workers who were in Sri Lanka for over a hundred years.

The imposition of Sinhala as the 'only' official language of Ceylon was interpreted not merely as a move to deny the rightful place to Tamil language but a direct attack on their 'identity ' and not just language. A comparison of the politics of the Indian and Lankan Tamil parties shows that it was the former that was more militant and also separatist.

Impact on India

If the Sri Lankans do not show pragmatism and accommodate Tamil aspirations, the island nation is in for a long spell of violence. It is only a matter of time before the refugees begin to arrive in India from Lanka, inflaming public opinion here.

The Indian approach to Lanka has been timid and indecisive. Partly out of the memory of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination but more due to the shrewdness with which the Lankans have used the bogey of China-Pakistan against India.

While in the short run the Lankans may have succeeded, but they will suffer in the long run if they get involved in the potential big power rivalry in the Indian Ocean. They may yet discover that a giant India is far more benign than the Chinese dragon.

karatecatman · Guest

TIMES OF INDIA
'LTTE attempting to reorganize, rescue hardcore cadres'
PTI
3 August 2009

COLOMBO: The LTTE could be attempting to revive the organisation amid efforts by the defeated terror group to rescue hardcore cadres housed in government-run refugees camps for Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka's northern Vavuniya district, a top minister has said.

Defence minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said though the LTTE had been military crushed, attempts were being made to rescue hardcore fighters who are living in the refuge camps in the Vavuniya region. He warned that this could be part of an overall strategy to revive the organisation, which was crushed by the military in May.

In an interview with The Sunday Island, the minister, who is the brother of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha, said that an organised campaign had been launched to free terrorists from refugee camps before army and police investigators, now engaged in a systematic screening process, closed in on them.

Gotabhaya vowed that the government would not allow the LTTE to reverse the military victory achieved at a huge cost to the nation.

He pointed out that ordinary civilians would never make an attempt to flee refugee camps as the government, with the support of some international agencies, had provided adequate facilities for them.

The civilians were displaced in the final months of fighting in the nation's quarter-century civil war between the government, dominated by the Sinhalese majority, and the Tamil Tiger rebels, fighting for a separate state for the Tamil minority.

Lanka has to act fast to rehabilitate the Tamil people. And India has to constantly apply the pressure. The BJP was right in saying that the current Foreign Ministry = Shivraj Patil 2.

karatecatman · Guest

Lanka to open a diplomatic mission in Eritrea (once a part of Ethiopia) after it has been found that the LTTE procurred most of its arms from rebel groups there.

The full fledged ambassador is to mainly keep an eye on LTTE groups.

Lanka also says that it has intercepted some telephonic talk between LTTE cadres overseas.

UN to step up pressure on Lanka to rehabilitate Tamils in the camps.

karatecatman · Guest

Fourth video of a 'brutal killing emerges'. This time its been put up by a Lankan agency that shows a tamil youth being beaten and forced to drwon off the sea. He is being beaten by Lankan security. The clip has been shown on most Indian channels.

BBC has also shown the killings of Tamils at point blank range by ubnidentified gunmen.

karatecatman · Guest

EXPRESS BUZZ
Book to reveal Lanka’s bloody past

G Saravanan
06 Nov 2009

CHENNAI: With a view to giving a comprehensive insight in to the alleged massacres committed by the Sri Lankan government against the ethnic Tamil population on the island nation since 1956, Chennaibased human rights trust Manitham will soon publish the details compiled by a local NGO in a book and release it in six languages.

Speaking to Express, Agni Subramaniam, executive director of Manitham said, “North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR) painstakingly compiled all the details with credible field verifications and gave the permission to publish the details in a book in six languages – Tamil, English, French, German, Sinhala and Hindi.” Famous human rights activist from the United States, Dr Ellyn Shander will write the foreword for the book, while Nanda Kandasamy, a Lankan national living in Canada has been entrusted with the designing.

NESoHR, which operated from Kilinochi with due permission from the Lankan government, complied all the harrowing details in two reports, Lest We Forget (Part 1 and II). However, the agency could not record any details of deaths or destruction during the final days of the recent Lankan war due to security concerns.

The book will not be released commercially. However, the money generated by publishing the book would be remitted back to the welfare of Lankan Tamil children affected by the ethnic war, Subramaniam said.

The book sheds light on the atrocities that the Lankan Tamils were subjected to in a so-called ethnic cleansing drive by the Sri Lankan state, long before even a single shot was fired by a Tamil militant, says Subramaniam.

Lest We Forget comprehensively recounts gory massacres like the Veeramunai Massacre (1990), Saththrukkondan Massacre (1990), Vantharumoolai Massacre (Eastern University camp) (1990), Chemmani Massgraves (1996), Krishanthi-Rape and Murder (1996) and Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre Carnage (2000), in which 28 inmates, mostly children, were killed and 14 injured, even though 60 (Sinhalese) police officers were stationed there that night to ‘protect’ the inmates.

The book is set to be published on December 10, which is celebrated around the world as Human Rights Day.

***

www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/an-anxious-wait-for-loved-ones-lost-by-sri-lankan-asylum-seekers/story-e6frg6nf-1225794871895
An anxious wait for loved ones lost by Sri Lankan asylum-seekers

Amanda Hodge, Kalaru, and Stephen Fitzpatrick
The Australian
November 06, 2009

FROM Sri Lanka to Indonesia, the waiting stretches across an ocean.

In Kalaru, a former Tamil Tiger stronghold on Sri Lanka's east coast, anxious villagers await news of friends and loved ones who set sail on the open sea for Australia and have not been heard from since their boat disappeared across the horizon.

And in Indonesia yesterday, 78 Sri Lankans continued their standoff with Australian authorities, refusing to leave the Oceanic Viking to have their asylum claims processed on the Indonesian mainland and continuing their demands to be taken to Australia.

The Sri Lankans rejected Australian government assurances that they would be processed quickly if they agreed to leave the ship for an Indonesian immigration camp.

And Australian officials trying to coax the asylum-seekers off the ship were dealt another blow, with a government psychologist warning that the Tamils would be in grave emotional danger if the deadlock continued.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related Coverage
UNIONS: Unions give cash to asylum-seekers
LENORE TAYLOR: Lenore Taylor:: PM blitzes media with non-messages End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Across the ocean, at deserted Kalaru beach yesterday, local men told The Australian that several boats had left from the area in recent weeks.

The ill-fated boat that sank in the Indian Ocean northwest of the Cocos Islands on Sunday, claiming 12 lives, was believed to be one of them.

Another was forced to turn back a fortnight ago because of rough seas, and villagers watched in astonishment as failed asylum-seekers ran up the beach and through streets to evade capture.

Two days ago, seven local men were less fortunate. The police, acting on a tip-off, caught their boat within a few hours of departure, and the men are now in Negombo jail.

Everyone The Australian spoke to yesterday had heard of the boat that sank. But in an area where everyone knows each other's business, few were prepared to speak of it.

There were many families anxiously awaiting news but they were all too scared to talk.

After turning a blind eye for weeks to the numbers of boats leaving the east coast for Australia's shores, the Sri Lankan navy is under enormous pressure from its own government to end the suspected graft and kickbacks that have enabled the growing asylum trade to flourish.

One young man in the nearby village of Kalmunai told The Australian he had farewelled 10 friends, all bound for Australia, at an impromptu party less than three weeks ago.

"They said they had already paid everything to go to Australia, and they were leaving, so they might not see me again," he said.

"Most of them had relations in Australia so they were going to stay with relatives and get jobs.

"They didn't have any fear about the trip."

The man said he didn't know if his friends were all taking the same boat and only one had been heard from since.

A few days ago that asylum-seeker called his parents from Bangkok to assure them he was safe but gave no details of his other friends.

"Nobody knows what has happened to them but we feel if something had gone wrong, the others would have tried to contact someone by now to tell us."

Back at Kalaru a local villager, Kamal, says that had he known about the boat leaving he would have been the first on board.

"Most of the people from these villages have relatives who have settled in Australia," he said.

"We are all waiting to go."

Back in Australia Kevin Rudd yesterday continued his media blitz, defending the government's handling of the issue, but he refused to rule out recalling the Oceanic Viking to Australia.

And two of the country's most powerful unions, the Maritime Union of Australia and the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union, said they would donate $10,000 to the 78 asylum-seekers aboard the boat.

But Dr Sujatmiko, the senior Indonesian Foreign Ministry official responsible for monitoring the standoff in Tanjung Pinang, said the pychological condition of the Sri Lankans would influence whether the vessel was allowed to stay in Indonesian waters beyond today, when its clearance expires.

The news came as the supertanker carrying 27 survivors from Sunday's boat disaster off the Cocos Islands was due to arrive at Christmas Island this morning, where authorities will begin processing their claims for asylum.

Dr Sujatmiko said the Australian psychologist had told officials that "however (the Sri Lankans) are coaxed, however many more days this goes on, this will not affect their decision because they are desperate".

"In fact, if it goes on too much longer this will disturb their psyches," he said the psychologist had reported.

The recommendation will put further pressure on Kevin Rudd to allow the Oceanic Viking to return with its human cargo to Christmas Island, after arriving off Tanjung Pinang two weeks ago in a deal struck between the Prime Minister and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Several of the Sri Lankans on board threw new notes into the ocean yesterday explaining their continuing refusal to get off.

"Don't force us back to Indonesia, and also in the future please don't talk about that," the letter read.

The Tamils were able to communicate with journalists via the notes yesterday despite a concerted attempt by Australian officials to close down all contact.

"When we met yesterday, and therefore before yesterday you talked us if we back to Indonesia you can start our process very quickly in give us resettlement," the note to Australian officials read.

"We agree everything you talked about but we are sorry to telling you we don't want to go back to Indonesia, because it will remember us about our difficulties and our bad experience."

Yesterday, UNHCR Regional Representative Rick Towle and a spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said they were unaware of any offers of inducements offered to the 78.

Many amongst the 78 have previously lived in Indonesia for several years, including some who had already been accepted by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees as having legitimate claims to refugee status.

The note also contained a request that, should Australia deny their request for resettlement, another country be found to take them.

Additional reporting: Paul Maley

karatecatman · Guest

Gen. Fonseka

http://news.rediff.com/special/2009/nov/13/why-lankan-war-hero-fonseka-and-rajapaksa-broke-up.htm
Why Lankan war hero Fonseka and Rajapaksa broke up

November 13, 2009

Senior Sri Lankan journalist Ameen Izzadeen explains why the popular general and popular President fell out just months after masterminding the end of the LTTE.

Sri Lankans now know why their highly-respected war hero wants to quit his top military post and serve the people in some other capacity, possibly as their next President. According to a leaked version of what is said to be General Sarath Fonseka's retirement letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, it all boils down to the government's fears of a military coup and its mistrust of Sri Lanka's [ Images ] first and only serving four-star general.

The tone of the letter indicates that the general was highly perturbed when the government last month alerted India [ Images ] on a possible coup in Sri Lanka and sought its help to thwart it if it happened.

The letter fired a 16-canon salvo at the President -- a kind of you did this to me, you humiliated me, you mistrusted me and you gave me a post that had no command responsibility.

The letter pointed to the recent replacement of soldiers loyal to General Fonseka with soldiers from a regiment which was close to President's brother and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa for security duty at army headquarters.

It also had a political tone aimed at wooing the Tamils, many of whom probably love to hate him.

The general told Rajapaksa, his commander-in-chief, that he won for him the war but the President failed to capitalise on it and win the peace.

'Your Excellency's government has yet to win the peace in spite of the fact that the army under my leadership won the war. There is no clear policy to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people, which will surely ruin the victory, attained (sic) paving the way for yet another uprising in the future,' the leaked letter said.

The general's disgust and the government's fears of a possible coup date from the beginning of the final phase of the separatist war. As the Sri Lankan armed forces scored victory after victory, General Fonseka, who in 2006 survived an LTTE assassination bid, emerged as a super hero and became more and more powerful. So much so, the President seldom said no to his requests.

Some months before the war ended, Rajapaksa honoured a senior editor with a top diplomatic posting in Pakistan. The editor and his family took wing to Islamabad [ Images ]. But no sooner he assumed duties than the editor received a letter from Sri Lanka' foreign ministry, asking him to immediately return to Colombo. No reasons were given why he was being called back. The editor later learnt that it was General Fonseka who told the President to do so because the editor had once blamed elements in the army for the abduction of a defence columnist who worked for him.

The power General Fonseka wielded during the war was such that many asked whether the civilian leadership was in awe of him. Analysts who were close to Rajapaksa would opine that the general was more powerful than the President.

A Machiavellian to the letter, Rajapaksa let the general have his say, but he always had an eye on his movements and waited for the opportune moment that he foresaw as coming after the war victory, to clip his wings.

Less than two months after General Fonseka's troops successfully ended a 30-year war with Tamil militants, the President 'honoured' him with a gazetted position of Chief of Defence Staff.

It took a few days for the general to realise that he had been misled and kicked upstairs with a position without power to command the armed forces. Moreover, in terms of the CDS Act, the general could act or advise only with the consent of the defence secretary, the President's brother, who was junior to General Fonseka in the army.

In his letter to the President, General Fonseka said he was humiliated by the promotion. This was how the General describes his humiliation in the leaked letter.

'Further, prior to my appointment I was mislead (sic) on the authority vested with the CDS. I was made to understand that the appointment carried more command responsibilities and authority than earlier, but subsequent to my appointment a letter by the Strategic Affairs Adviser to the defence secretary indicated that my appointment was purely to coordinate the services and not that of overall command.

'Such actions clearly defines Your Excellency's and the government's unwillingness to
grant me with command responsibilities which leads to believe in a strong mistrust in me, which is most depressing after all what was performed to achieve war victory.

'During a subsequent Service Commanders Meeting, the Defence Secretary was bold enough to state an unethical and uncalled (for) statement by mentioning that 'if operational control of all three services is granted to the CDS it would be very dangerous', which indeed was a loss of face to me in the presences of subordinate services commanders.'

Many analysts also believe the promotion of the general as the CDS was linked more with the fears the Rajapaksa brothers had about a military coup than with any intention to promote the general.

Two weeks before General Fonseka was given the post, the state-run Daily News carried on its front page the story on the military coup in Honduras on June 28. That a distant country with which Sri Lanka had hardly any diplomatic or trade relations made news on the front page of a state-run newspaper was no accident. Neither was it a sub editor's desperate attempt to fill space on a news-starved day.

The story was included by the government to send a signal to the highly-popular general who still commanded the respect of the rank and file of the army that the government was prepared to face any eventuality.

Not used to such indirect salvoes, the general felt that he was being used and discarded by the government. As days passed, the rift deepened. The gap between the President and the general continued to widen with government ministers at pubic meetings saying that it was because of President Rajapaksa's leadership that the army was able to defeat the terrorists.

The general felt such remarks were distinctly a bullet below the belt. The remarks prompted the general to say that 95 percent of the credit for the victory should go to the troops.

Fishing in the troubled waters was the opposition. It succeeded in netting in the general and held secret talks aimed at fielding him as the common opposition candidate if and when the President announces the election. With many in the opposition holding the view that the United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe would cut a sorry figure contesting Rajapaksa at the polls, General Fonseka became their obvious choice.

Even the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna has hinted that it will support Gen. Fonseka as the common opposition candidate, notwithstanding its ideological differences with the free-market UNP, Sri Lanka's Grand Old Party.

Rajapaksa was obviously agitated by the news. Suddenly the glow on his chubby face disappeared and dark patches appeared under his eyes, indicating that he is now a worried man. The counter offensive began.

Last Thursday, hours after the general returned from a controversial visit to the United States, he was engaged in a war of words with the defence secretary, according to the Sunday Times newspaper. The duel was not about the US Department of Homeland Security's request to General Fonseka to be a 'source' in a possible war crimes probe against the defence secretary, a US citizen, but over a question of discipline in the army.

Billboards that showed a jubilant Fonseka with his heroic troops disappeared from busy junctions. His pictures on billboards where he was seen with the President and his brother Gotabhaya, were tarred or torn. A hero has become a zero in the eyes of the government.

But the real battle will begin in the coming days after General Fonseka makes his political intentions clear.

An indication of his intention was found in the final paragraph of the letter.

'The peace dividend the whole country expected at the conclusion of the war has yet to materialise. The economic hardships faced by the people have increased while waste and corruption have reached endemic proportions; media freedom and other democratic rights continue to be curtailed. The many sacrifices the army made to end the war would not have been in vain, if we can usher in a new era of peace and prosperity to our motherland.'

The rift between General Fonseka and Rajapaksa has not gone down well with the masses, especially the Sinhala majority, who regard both as war heroes. The ultra nationalists' ire is aimed at the opposition whom they accuse of dividing the Sinhalese. They even tried to get the chief Buddhist monks to issue a 'Sangha order' -- an edict -- urging General Fonseka not to enter politics.

But General Fonseka is as ultra nationalist as those who blame him for flirting with the opposition alliance -- which include parties representing the interests of Muslims and Tamils of Indian origin beside the UNP and former foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera's Sri Lanka Freedom Party Mahajana Wing, a breakaway group of the ruling party.

General Fonseka in an interview with Canada's [ Images ] National Post in September last year said he 'strongly believed that Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhalese, but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people. They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things.'

A majority of the Tamils, many of whom were hurt by the vulgar jubilation displayed on the streets following the victory, see no difference between Rajapaksa and Fonseka.

Disturbed by the deaths of thousands of innocent Tamils in the last days of the war and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced Tamil people in camps, a majority of the Tamils are unlikely to support either of the candidates. However, the opposition alliance is trying its best to woo the mainstream Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, which was once regarded the mouthpiece of Tamil Tigers in Parliament.

A majority of the Tamils also feel that neither candidate is committed to finding a solution to the Tamil problem by devolving power, despite the pro-devolution UNP's presence in the opposition alliance offering them a glimmer of hope.

Another factor which worries the government is the possibility of certain state secrets coming out to the open in the heat of the election campaign. This might be damaging, especially in view of the international human rights community's call for war crimes probes against the Sri Lankan government.

Ameen Izzadeen in Colombo

karatecatman · Guest

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/131025.pdf
Report to United States Congress on incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka

karatecatman · Guest

TAMIL SYDNEY

Several relatives of Gen. Sarath Fonseka who were attached to defense services have been removed from their posts says a local news. According to a source reliable, Gen. Fonseka’s brother- in- law Sarath Munasinghe, Director of Ministerial Security Division, has been transferred to Traffic Police with immediate effect. Also DIGP Sisil Perera, father of Gen. Fonseka’s daughter’s groom to be has been removed from that post.

They have been removed from their positions as soon as Gen. Fonseka presented his letter of resignation

karatecatman · Guest

HINDUSTAN TIMES
Fonseka visit to US raised eyebrows

Sutirtho Patranobis
Hindustan Times
Colombo, November 03, 2009

Chief of defence staff, general Sarath Fonseka, is again making headlines. Headlines that have left the government worried and in the turbulent middle of another diplomatic spat with the US.

Fonseka, currently on a partly private visit to the US, has been sought by the US’s Homeland Security department to be a source of information on alleged human rights crimes committed by defence secretary, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The plan to question Fonseka comes days after the US state department released a report that both the Lankan government and the LTTE violated human rights on several occasions during the last phase of the war.

Giving a twist to the tale, the Asian Tribune website claimed that Fonseka had agreed to meet US officials in Oklahoma even before he informed the Lankan embassy in Washington or his political superiors in Colombo about the unusual US request.

``It took almost two days for him to inform Sri Lanka ambassador in Washington and his immediate superior defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa,’’ the website said.

``What made Fonseka to agree to the ‘voluntary meeting’ November 4, 48 hours before he intimated Ambassador J Wickremasuriya and…Colombo?’’ was the natural next question that the website asked.

The government said it would be illegal for Fonseka to share any information about the war against the LTTE with a third party without the government’s consent.

Political and diplomatic circles in Colombo have been on overdrive; Fonseka himself has remained quiet, leading to more theories. An English newspaper editorial titled the development as ``whose drama and who is Hamlet?’’

Naturally, the political soil here is fertile for conspiracy theories; people aren’t ready to believe that it was as simple as Fonseka landed in the US and was called for questioning. And, can one blame Sri Lankans for believing that there is more than meets the eye.

karatecatman · Guest

LANKA NEWSPAPERS

Fonseka's resignation letter
Saturday
14 November 2009

Sri Lanka s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Sarath Fonseka, who led the war against the LTTE as Army Chief, on yesterday ( Nov. 12) Thursday, afternoon sent his resignation letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa possibly to join politics.

Here full text of the resignation letter from the General Sarath Fonseka.

His Excellency the President
Through the Secretary, Ministry of Defence,
Public Security, Law and Order
Presidential Secretariat
COLOMBO
12 November 2009

Your Excellency

REQUEST TO RETIRE FROM THE REGULAR FORCE OF THE SRI LANKA ARMY

1. I, General G S C Fonseka RWP RSP VSV USP rcds psc presently serving as the Chief of Defence Staff, was enlisted to the Ceylon Army on 05th Feb 1970 and was commissioned on the 01st June 1971. On the 6th Dec 2005 due to the trust and confident placed on me, Your Excellency was kind enough to promote me to the rank of Lieutenant General and appoint me as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army in an era when the Country was embroiled with the menace of a bloody terrorism and was in a stalemate state after having toiled for a solution politically or otherwise for over 25 years without a success.

2. During my command of 3 years and 7 months, the Sri Lanka Army managed to eradicate the terrorist movement having apprehended an unbelievable stock of arms and munitions and decisively defeating the LTTE and its murderous leadership. which Your Excellency is obviously aware of. I would not be exaggerating to state that I was instrumental in leading the Army to this historic victory, of course with Your Excellency s political support, which helped to materialize this heroic action. Though the field commanders, men and all members of the Army worked towards this common goal, it is with my vision, command and leadership that this yeomen task was achieved.

3. I do appreciate the fact that the Country and Your Excellency did recognize my services which led to me being promoted to the first ever serving four star general to command the Army, nevertheless the courses of action which initiated subsequently greatly depressed me which I have enumerated in the Annex hereto.

4. Considering the facts mentioned in the Annex and more, which I am privy to withhold, I am compelled to believe that Your Excellency and the Government has lost your trust and faith bestowed upon me for reasons best known to Your Excellency. Hence as the senior most serving military officer in the Country with 40 years of service, such a situation does not warrant a continuation of my duties any longer, thereby I have the honour to request that I be permitted to terminate my services and retire from the Regular Force of the Army with effect from 01st December 2009.

5. Furthermore I have the honour to request that on retirement Your Excellency would be kind enough to grant me sufficient security which includes trained combat soldiers, a suitable vehicle with sufficient protection (Bullet proof) and escort vehicles for my conveyances due to the fact that I am considered as one of the highest priority targets by the LTTE, which they are yet capable of achieving. Also, I wish to bring to Your Excellency s kind notice that over 100 men, six escort vehicles and a bullet proof vehicle have been placed at the convenience of the former Commander of the Navy, Admiral WKJ Karannagoda. I presume that such arrangements would be made available to me, considering the threat factor I am facing, which Your Excellency is well aware of.

6. I would also wish to quote an example in the case of the former Indian Chief of Army Staff General A S Vadiya, instrumental in leading the Indian Army in Operation Blue Star against the Sheiks at the Golden Temple, Amristar in 1984, was assassinated whilst on retirement in 1986 purely in revenge of his victories achieved. I do not wish to experience a similar incident as I have already sustained serious injuries after the attempt on my life by a suicide cadre of the LTTE. Thereby, I am compelled to entrust you with my security which is requested for life.

7. Furthermore, I would like to emphasis on a statement made by me during my tenure as the Commander of the Army. In that, I mentioned my dislike to be in command forever and also I would ensure that my successor would not be burden with the task of war fighting, which I abided with. Hence, as I have already overstayed my retirement date by 4 years, I wish to proceed on retirement without further delays.

8. Forwarded for Your Excellency s kind consideration please.

I have the honour to be
Your Excellency s
Obedient Servant

G S C FONSEKA RWP RSP VSV USP rcds psc
General
Chief of Defence Staff
CONFIDENTIAL
Annex A
12 November 2009

FACTORS AFFECTING MY RETIREMENT FROM THE REGULAR FORCE OF THE ARMY

1. Various agencies misleading Your Excellency by stating a possible coup immediately after the victory over the LTTE which obviously led to a change of command in spite of my request to be in command until the Army celebrated its 60th Anniversary. This fear psychosis of a coup is well known among the defence circle.

2. Appointing an officer pending a disciplinary inquiry who performed duties only as a holding formation commander in the final battle as my successor, disregarding my recommendations to appoint Major General G A Chandrasiri as the Commander of the Army who was the then Chief of Staff and an officer with an exemplary service as the Security Forces Commander in Jaffna for over 3 years. This has already led to a deterioration of the high standards I was capable of introducing to the Army, to my bitter disappointment.

3. Appointing me as the Chief of Defence Staff, though a senior appointment to that of a service commander, with basically no authority, except for mere coordinating responsibilities in a manner which mislead the general public of the country and most members of the Armed Forces. In that the Secretary Defence pushing me to vacate the post of the Commander in just two weeks after the victory and Your Excellency insisting me to hand over duties in less than two months depriving me of my morel obligations in revamping the welfare and providing a sound administration to the men who fought a gallant battle.

4. Further, prior to my appointment I was mislead on the authority vested with the CDS. I was made to understand that the appointment carried more command responsibilities and authority than earlier, but subsequent to my appointment a letter by the Strategic Affairs Adviser to the Secretary Defence indicated that my appointment was purely to coordinate the services and not that of overall command. The letter is attached herewith for Your Excellency s information. Such actions clearly defines Your Excellency s and the Governments unwillingness to grant me with command responsibilities which leads to believe in a strong mistrust in me, which is most depressing after all what was performed to achieve war victory.

5. During a subsequent Service Commanders Meeting, the Secretary Defence was bold enough to state an unethical and uncalled statement by mentioning that if operational control of all three services is granted to the CDS it would be very dangerous , which indeed was a loss of face to me in the presences of subordinate services commanders.

6. Your Excellency, you too made a statement at the very first security council soon after the 18th of May 09 when the battled was declared over, that no further recruitment would be necessary and a strong public opinion is in the making stating that the Country is in possession of a too powerful army. It was surprising to hear such a comment from Your Excellency in spite of your repeated praise and boast of the war victory. I personally felt that Your Excellency has commenced mistrusting your own loyal Army which attained the unimaginable victory just a week ago. You again repeated the same statement even after I handed over the command. Over these comments I felt disgusted as we even insulted those who made the supreme sacrifice by such comments.

7. The present Army Commander immediately on assuming duties commenced transferring senior officers who immensely contributed to the war effort during my command tenure including those junior officers working with my wife at the Seva Vanitha Army Branch which was clearly to challenge the loyalty of officers and most discouraging to the officer corps of the Army, with a wrong signal being transmitted on my authority.

8. With a pain of mind it was noted that the same Army which gained victory for the Nation was suspected of staging a coupe and thereby alerting the Government of India once again on the 15th of October 2009, unnecessarily placing the Indian Troops on high alert. This action did tarnish the image and reputation gained by the Sri Lanka Army as a competent and professional organization who was capable of defeating a terrorist group after the Malayan Emergency, in the eyes of the World. This suspicion would have been due to the loyalty of the Sri Lanka Army towards me as its past Commander who led the Army to the historic victory.

9. During my absences from the Country (23 Oct 2009 to 5 Nov 2009) being on overseas leave, the Army Headquarters was bold enough to change the security personnel deployed at the AHQ Main Entrance and the Ministry of Defence emphasizing the withdrawal of the Sinha Regiment troops who were attached to me, as you are aware is my parent regiment and supplementing them with other regimental personnel. The Sinha Regiment troops were good enough to provide security to the Ministry of Defence for 4 years and it is surprising to note how the combat efficiency of the said troops supposed to have dropped overnight as per Secretary Defence s opinion. Further the Sinha Regiment troops numbering a mere 4, non combatants, deployed for vehicle checking duties at the AHQ Main Entrance, were replaced by 14 armed Armoured Corps personnel, whilst a further two platoons were brought in to prevent the 4 non combat Sinha Regiment personnel performing duties, creating a mockery to the general public including to some foreign missions. This clearly indicates a questionable loyalty of troops good enough for duties for over four years purely due to the fact that the troops were from my Regiment. This also indirectly reflects mistrust on me or an indication that the persons concern wish to keep a tab on my movements and visitors to my HQ/residence which is a clear display of suspicion created on me.

10. Further on instructions of the Secretary Defence, troops from the Gajaba Regiment was brought in to the MOD complex which indicated a divide loyalty within the Army and reasons to believe that the Army now being politicized. This is being encouraged by the Army Commander too who thinks that the Armoured Corp troops should over power Sinha Regiment troops.

11. Instigating malicious and detrimental news items and rumors by interested parties including several senior government politicians which led to identify me as a traitor in spite of my personal contribution of the government to change the history of our country.

12. During my absence from the Country, an acting CDS or an officer to overlook duties was not appointed which indicates that the much spoken appointment of the CDS is unimportant to the Government and the National Security Council. If the appointment was of significant important as stated by most, it should have been imperative to appoint somebody to oversee the duties and thereby I am convinced that I have being granted with an unimportant appointment in spite of all the work done.

13. It is with sadness that I note that the ordinary Army which I toiled to transform into a highly professional outfit is now loosing its way. Increased desertions, lack of enthusiasm to enlist (A drop in enlistment rate by 50% is recorded), disciplinary problems on advocating divided commands indicates an unprofessional organization in the offing. During the last two months the members deserted are higher than the recruitment.

14.The plight of the IDPs is also a point of great concern to me. Thousands of valiant soldiers sacrificed their valuable lives to liberate these unfortunate civilians from the brutality and tyranny of the LTTE in order that they could live in an environment of freedom and democracy. Yet, today many of them are continuing to live in appalling conditions due to the lack of proper planning on the part of the government and the IDPs who have friends and relatives elsewhere in the country must be given the choice to live with them until proper demining has been done in their areas.

15.Your Excellency s government has yet to win the peace in spite of the fact that the Army under my leadership won the war. There is no clear policy to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people, which will surely ruin the victory, attained paving the way for yet another uprising in the future.

16. The peace dividend the whole country expected at the conclusion of the war has yet to materialize. The economic hardships faced by the people have increased while waste and corruption have reached endemic proportions media freedom and other democratic rights continue to be curtailed. The many sacrifices the army made to end the war would not have been in vain, if we can usher in a new era of peace and prosperity to our motherland.

karatecatman · Guest

UNP angered over removal of cut-outs of Gen. Fonseka

Olindhi Jayasundere

The removal of hoardings and cut-outs along the Parliament Road and several parts of Colombo by the Urban Development Authority sparked angry protests from the UNP yesterday. UNP members charged Government was removing cut-outs with General Fonseka’s photograph. UNP MP John Amaratunge said it was wrong for the Government to show such disrespect to General Fonseka who was the driving force behind the defeat of the LTTE. He said the General deserved more respect for the hard work and commitment he had shown in bringing peace to the country. He is a war hero whom we must celebrate, not condemn”. He added removing pictures of the General could not be approved. Meanwhile the UDA rejected the allegation they were removing cut-outs and hoardings with General Fonseka’s image.

Director General of the UDA Sanath Weerakoon told the Daily Mirror yesterday, the UDA had removed hoardings on Tuesday (10th) night along the road leading to Parliament, but added the removal of pictures of General Fonseka were not influenced by Government pressure.

“There were several hoardings of Ministers we removed. There may have been pictures of military officers but I’m not too sure. We took down all hoardings and cut-outs in sight along the Parliament Road, in Borella and in other parts of Colombo as well,” Weerakoon said.

He said though the UDA did not remove hoardings and cut-outs on a daily basis, they tried to ensure hoardings were taken down as often as possible. “It is our responsibility to ensure the surroundings are clean and look presentable,” he said.

karatecatman · Guest

THE AGE, AUSTRALIA
Freedom of speech vanishing in Sri Lanka

MATT WADE, COLOMBO
October 26, 2009

FEARS over declining media freedoms in Sri Lanka have intensified after a newspaper editor was held by police and questioned about a report alleging tension between military officials and the Government.

Chandana Srimalwatte, editor of the popular Sinhalese-language newspaper Lanka Irida Sangrahaya, was detained by armed police and questioned for publishing a report detailing tensions between military chief General Sarath Fonseka and the Government.

Srimalwatte was in custody for more than three hours and investigators have made two subsequent visits to his office to question him.

He now expects to be charged with '''arousing the public against the Government'' and could face two years in jail if found guilty.

''I told them I had no intention to stir up the society against the Government, I was just reporting what I had learnt from my sources,'' Srimalwatte told The Age.

''The people have the right to know what powerful people are doing. They want to know about this crisis in the Government.''

Sri Lanka has been ranked as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.

The suppression of free speech following Sri Lanka's civil war will only heighten the fears of Sri Lanka's minority Tamil population and give added incentive to Tamils to sail for Australia in hope of asylum.

Journalists say independent reporting has become even more difficult since the end in May of Sri Lanka's 25-year conflict between the government dominated by the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil Tigers.

In June, Pobbala Jayantha, editor of the Sinhalese newspaper Silumina, which has published stories critical of the Government, was abducted and severely beaten.

''I was kidnapped for about 1½ hours,'' he said. His injuries included two broken legs, which are likely to leave him with lifelong disabilities.

''I will definitely be returning to journalism, but I have to recover first,'' he said.

In recent months many senior journalists have fled Sri Lanka for India and Western countries and others have found work in other industries.

There is concern at the police reaction to Srimalwatte's report because the story was essentially political in nature and had nothing to do with terrorism.

Despite his central role in the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers, General Fonseka was removed from his post soon after the conflict finished and given the largely ceremonial role of Chief of Defence Staff.

Opposition parties now want the disaffected war hero to stand for them against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in elections likely to be held early next year.

Three other reporters from Srimalwtte's newspaper were arrested and charged after writing reports about allegations of corruption against members of President Rajapaksa's family.

In late August, journalist J. S. Tissainayagam was sentenced to 20 years' jail when found guilty of ''causing communal disharmony'' and ''receiving money from Tamil Tiger rebels to pay for his website''.

In January the editor-in-chief of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunga, was assassinated on his way to work. No arrests have been made.

Many Sri Lankans worry about the loss of freedom of expression. ''You can't speak the truth here any more,'' one government official told The Age. ''If you speak the truth today you'll go missing tomorrow.''

karatecatman · Guest

Did Fonseka come to Mumbai on secret visit?
Sutirtho Patranobis
Hindustan Times
Colombo, December 05, 2009

Presidential hopeful general Sarath Fonseka returned to Colombo on Friday afternoon after a day visit to India apparently to open a line of communication with Indian political leaders.

Though it was learnt that he flew to Mumbai, neither he nor his political aides were willing to share any details about the visit. “He flew to Mumbai. But from Mumbai, one can go any where. He had to meet some people,’’ were the cryptic remarks of an aid.

Fonseka met the Indian High Commissioner Ashok K Kantha on Wednesday a day before he left, leading to further speculation that he had requested Kantha to make arrangements to meet a few Indian leaders.

The High Commission did not comment on Fonseka’s visit. Kantha himself was in New Delhi on Friday on a private function.

Fonseka’s visit follows former prime minister and top opposition leader, Ranil Wickeremsinghe’s visit to New Delhi in November. It is expected that another opposition delegation would visit New Delhi soon.

Since joining the race for Presidency, Fonseka has been desperately trying to shed his pro-China and pro-Pakistan image. At his maiden press conference last Sunday, he specifically fielded questions to emphasise his good relations with India. He has gone on to profess his love for Indian popular culture including Hindi movies and music.

During interactions, he has been stressing his personal military ties with India, remembering to mention the four military courses he has done in academies across India.

But India would be cautious in its approach to Fonseka known for his nationalistic Sinhala views.

Also, in October, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had alerted New Delhi about a possible Fonseka-led military coup in Sri Lanka. Fonseka later denied any such attempt, saying Rajapaksa had tarnished the army’s image by insinuating that he would carry out a coup.

‘West using Fonseka’

Sri Lankan Agriculture Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena alleged on Friday that Fonseka has now become a pawn in the hands of some western nations “conspiring” to bring “regime change” in Sri Lanka.

***

INDIAN EXPRESS
‘West using Fonseka to bring regime change in Lanka’

Colombo: Former top General Sarath Fonseka has become a pawn in the hands of some western nations “conspiring” to bring “regime change” in Sri Lanka, a minister has alleged. General secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Maithripala Sirisena said: “Certain Western nations were trying to bring about a regime change here since the government has never given in to their pressure in its fight against terrorism,” Daily Mirror quoted Sirisena as saying.

karatecatman · Guest

About two months before the final battle on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon in May, the United States had offered to evacuate top LTTE leaders and their families.

The unprecedented proposal had been made by the then US Ambassador in Colombo Robert Blake after the Co-Chairs to the Sri Lankan peace process, spearheaded by the Norwegians agreed that the LTTE could no longer halt the army advance.

Although a section of the press in March 2009 speculated that the US was exploring the possibility of evacuating civilians trapped in the war zone, it can now be revealed that the actual move was to evacuate the LTTE leadership. Well informed sources told The Island that the US plan envisaged taking over 100 persons, including Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sea Tiger leader Soosai, Intelligence Wing leader Pottu Amman and their families.

Sources said that Ambassador Blake went to extent of calling US experts to Colombo to work out modalities regarding the deployment of US assets to evacuate the LTTE leadership discussed the possibility of deploying US vessels to carry out the evacuation.

Sources said that an aircraft from Hawaii carrying US experts touched down at the Bandaranaike International Airport following a dispute over formalities regarding landing rights. Sources said that the US embassy had alerted the government of the impending arrival of the aircraft only after it was airborne.

Responding to The Island queries, sources said that at one point the Sri Lankan government had suggested that Ambassador Blake should also consult New Delhi regarding the controversial evacuation plans.

While secret negotiations were taking place, the Army had advanced slowly but steadily into the remaining LTTE-held territory in the Mullaitivu district. By the second week of March, a multi-pronged ground offensive was eating into some 45 square km territory under LTTE control. At the beginning of the Sri Lankan offensive in September 2006, the LTTE had about 15,000 square km under its control.

Sources said that government forces could have finished off the Tigers earlier had the army carried out an all out attack regardless of civilian losses. In fact, UN Chief Ban-ki-moon had inquired why the government did not carry out an amphibious assault on the Mullaitivu beach to conclude the offensive as he flew over the Vanni battlefields.

Sources said that much talked about UN bid to save about 50 LTTE leaders and their families was made hot on heels of the failed US attempt. Sources said that had international operations to evacuate the LTTE leadership succeeded, Sri Lanka would have faced an extremely difficult situation and the so-called Eelam government in exile would not be a joke had they escaped.

The US and the UN had intervened on behalf of the influential Tamil Diaspora which continued to play a pivotal role even in the post-LTTE era. Sources said that those pushing US and western capitals were not only Sri Lankan Tamils but influential groups from South Africa and South East Asian countries.

After Sri Lanka had successfully thwarted international intervention, the LTTE on its own tried to use one of its vessels to evacuate Prabhakaran and his family, the sources revealed.

Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe last Monday (Dec 21) said that a 90-metre ship seized by a special SLN team was believed to have been involved in a last ditch attempt to rescue Prabhakaran. He said that a light chopper launched from the ship could have picked Prabhakaran as the army advanced on the last LTTE stronghold.

Fearing an LTTE operation, the navy deployed the bulk of its assets on the north-eastern waters while the SLAF stationed a pair of jets at the China Bay air base to meet any eventuality.

Once the 55 and 59 Divisions linked-up on the Mullaitivu beach, it was only a matter of time before the Tigers collapsed on the Vanni front.