Sri Lanka’s international aid donors demanded an end to the escalating violence gripping the island and vowed “concerted action” to push the warring parties back to peace negotiations.
Peace broker Norway said the island’s top aid givers – Japan, the European Union and the United States – met in Oslo Friday to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the island and decided to continue talks in Tokyo.
No new dates for donors’ deliberations were announced but a statement issued by the Norwegian embassy in Colombo said they decided to meet again to “further discuss steps and concerted actions to encourage the parties to pursue a durable solution in Sri Lanka.”
Delegates “reiterated their deep concern at the recent deterioration of the situation in Sri Lanka, condemning all acts of violence and calling on this to stop,” the statement said.
“I am extremely concerned about the recent upsurge in violence in Sri Lanka,” Norway’s international development minister Erik Solheim said ahead of the Friday meeting.
The four co-hosted a meeting in June 2003 and raised 4.5 billion dollars in pledges for Sri Lanka’s peace bid, but linked aid delivery to progress in the Norwegian-backed process.
Earlier, the United States condemned the attack against an army headquarters in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo and called the suicide blast a provocation by the Tamil Tigers.
“This is clearly an act of terror, which we condemn,” the State Department’s deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters. “It is an unacceptable act of terror, a clear provocation and an escalation of violence.
“We express our sympathies and condolences to the victims of this attack and will continue our efforts to work with the parties in Sri Lanka, the friends of Sri Lanka, including the Norwegians, and all those who want to see a solution to this conflict through dialogue and through negotiation and not through violence.”
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said the attack marked a step back for the political process in Sri Lanka and risked plunging the country back into war.
“It’s regrettable that the Tamil Tigers have decided to restart the war instead of restarting the peace process,” he told reporters.
“We are in touch with governments around the world to bring to bear whatever pressure we can on the Tamil Tigers to abandon this course of action and to look for ways that we can support the government on coping with the threat.”
The Co-Chairs of the donor community – US, EU, Japan and Norway - condemning the attempted assassination of Lt. General Sarath Fonseka, exhorted the LTTE to cease all suicide attacks and other forms of violence.
Last Tuesday night, India’s Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee called President Mahinda Rajapakse to denounce the suicide bombing and express solidarity with the government and people of Sri Lanka. He was speaking in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is on a tour to Germany and Uzbekistan.
“We are shocked by the suicide attack,” Mukherjee told Rajapakse. “We condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Terrorism is completely unacceptable. Our solidarity is with the people and government of Sri Lanka.”
Swedish Major-General Ulf Henricsson, who heads the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that oversees the truce, said if violence continued, peace talks would become difficult. The worst-case scenario was a return to war, he said.
“I think the parties are not prepared for that,” he said. “And if they were, it would be devastating for the people of Sri Lanka and for their own military capabilities.”
The Sri Lankan government and the LTTE were due to meet in Switzerland on April 24 to discuss ways to save their truce, but the talks were delayed after the government and the LTTE were unable to agree a method for safely transporting the LTTE’s eastern commander to the Vanni for a meeting.
The fresh violence made investors jittery. International credit ratings agencies Standard and Poor’s and Fitch downgraded Sri Lanka’s rating outlook from stable to negative due to the escalating unrest.
Peace broker Norway said the island’s top aid givers – Japan, the European Union and the United States – met in Oslo Friday to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the island and decided to continue talks in Tokyo.
No new dates for donors’ deliberations were announced but a statement issued by the Norwegian embassy in Colombo said they decided to meet again to “further discuss steps and concerted actions to encourage the parties to pursue a durable solution in Sri Lanka.”
Delegates “reiterated their deep concern at the recent deterioration of the situation in Sri Lanka, condemning all acts of violence and calling on this to stop,” the statement said.
“I am extremely concerned about the recent upsurge in violence in Sri Lanka,” Norway’s international development minister Erik Solheim said ahead of the Friday meeting.
The four co-hosted a meeting in June 2003 and raised 4.5 billion dollars in pledges for Sri Lanka’s peace bid, but linked aid delivery to progress in the Norwegian-backed process.
Earlier, the United States condemned the attack against an army headquarters in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo and called the suicide blast a provocation by the Tamil Tigers.
“This is clearly an act of terror, which we condemn,” the State Department’s deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters. “It is an unacceptable act of terror, a clear provocation and an escalation of violence.
“We express our sympathies and condolences to the victims of this attack and will continue our efforts to work with the parties in Sri Lanka, the friends of Sri Lanka, including the Norwegians, and all those who want to see a solution to this conflict through dialogue and through negotiation and not through violence.”
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said the attack marked a step back for the political process in Sri Lanka and risked plunging the country back into war.
“It’s regrettable that the Tamil Tigers have decided to restart the war instead of restarting the peace process,” he told reporters.
“We are in touch with governments around the world to bring to bear whatever pressure we can on the Tamil Tigers to abandon this course of action and to look for ways that we can support the government on coping with the threat.”
The Co-Chairs of the donor community – US, EU, Japan and Norway - condemning the attempted assassination of Lt. General Sarath Fonseka, exhorted the LTTE to cease all suicide attacks and other forms of violence.
Last Tuesday night, India’s Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee called President Mahinda Rajapakse to denounce the suicide bombing and express solidarity with the government and people of Sri Lanka. He was speaking in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is on a tour to Germany and Uzbekistan.
“We are shocked by the suicide attack,” Mukherjee told Rajapakse. “We condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Terrorism is completely unacceptable. Our solidarity is with the people and government of Sri Lanka.”
Swedish Major-General Ulf Henricsson, who heads the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that oversees the truce, said if violence continued, peace talks would become difficult. The worst-case scenario was a return to war, he said.
“I think the parties are not prepared for that,” he said. “And if they were, it would be devastating for the people of Sri Lanka and for their own military capabilities.”
The Sri Lankan government and the LTTE were due to meet in Switzerland on April 24 to discuss ways to save their truce, but the talks were delayed after the government and the LTTE were unable to agree a method for safely transporting the LTTE’s eastern commander to the Vanni for a meeting.
The fresh violence made investors jittery. International credit ratings agencies Standard and Poor’s and Fitch downgraded Sri Lanka’s rating outlook from stable to negative due to the escalating unrest.
