Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas have developed a “sophisticated” maritime network and they must now be looking for ways to meet the challenges of the latest global maritime security regimes, an Indian scholar says.

Vijay Sakhuja, a former Indian Navy officer and now a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, says that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) “has built up an impressive maritime infrastructure” and sharpened its maritime skills.

“The networks have kept pace with the changing technologies and have adapted themselves to counter the strategies of maritime forces,” says 14-page study, titled “The Dynamics of LTTE's Commercial Maritime Infrastructure”.

The LTTE, which controls a vast stretch of territory in Sri Lanka's northeast, also operates a powerful naval wing that is called “Sea Tigers”, which includes a suicide unit of its own known as “Black Sea Tigers”.

But as opposed to the Sea Tigers' fast moving attack vessels, the LTTE has built a mammoth maritime unit that mostly ferries legitimate cargo from one part of the world to another but also carries, when needed, arms and explosives for the Tigers.

Sakhuja says the LTTE's maritime assets and organisation “are quite capable and can well compete with the maritime facilities of a small island state” and they include a fleet of merchant ships, a large number of fishing trawlers, high-speed motor launches, and professionally trained crew.

“The LTTE may also have some vessels capable of carrying one to two shipping containers.”

Sakhuja's focus on the maritime wing, which he calls “impressive” and “sophisticated”, and says it has “kept pace with the changing technologies.

Besides, the Sea Tigers “have also sharpened their capability to attack enemy ships both in harbour and at sea”.

In view of the post 9/11 maritime security matrix being imposed upon states and the maritime community, the task before the LTTE is indeed demanding, says Sakhuja, who held several key appointments as a navy officer.

The latest security regimes include the Proliferation Security Initiative, the International Ship and Port Facility Security and those related to the Flag of Convenience.

“The LTTE would be probing for strategies that would ensure the security of its maritime enterprise of its covert operations. It will rely on its network of suppliers, safe havens for its ships and reliable crew for steering its fleet,” the study says.

“The requirements of security will therefore be carefully chosen by the LTTE so as not to impede its maritime trade, gun running, drug and human smuggling. It will build suitable responses to prevent a slowing down of its flow of finances and materials that serve as its umbilical cord.”

Sakhuja says the loss of Indian logistical support in the wake of the LTTE's 1991 assassination of former premier Rajiv Gandhi was the primary reason for it to augment its ocean bound maritime fleet to transport arms and ammunition from distant markets.

“The LTTE fleet of ocean going merchant ships operates independently of the Sea Tigers. The command, control and communication of the commercial fleets is different from that of the Sea Tigers.

“But the Sea Tigers are transferred on occasion to serve in the commercial fleet. These vessels engage in transporting a variety of general cargo like timber, cement, flour, sugar, salt and steel.

“It is important to keep in mind that [while] drug couriers with links to the LTTE have been arrested worldwide, but no LTTE ships transporting narcotics have been intercepted or searched.”

Sakhuja says it is difficult to determine the precise number of ships, trawlers and smaller vessels in the inventory of the LTTE but estimates this could vary from 12 to 15 ships that are 1,000 to 1,500 tons DWT (dead weight tonnage).

Similarly, he says that it would be fair to conclude that the LTTE cadres capable of undertaking open ocean and high sea operations would number at least 125.

“It is also possible that the LTTE may be augmenting its fleet operations by hiring crew from the Philippines and Indonesia that are the largest suppliers of merchant ship crew”.

Today, the long stretch of northern seas extending from Nagarkovil to Kokkuththoduvai is under the control of Liberation Tigers. After we evicted the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from the Mullaitivu garrison, our control of northern seas has expanded and strengthened.

We move with complete freedom in these waters to transport our cadres and to distribute material needs to our movement. We will not hesitate to wage war with anyone who attempts to prevent us from exercising our freedom.

We have the power and right to develop the necessary infrastructure and military strength to provide security to our people within our homeland.

Some say that International laws do not permit parties "without a legal state" to own a naval force in seas belonging to a sovereign state. We have one thing to say to them. Every square-inch of land we control, and all infrastructure and areas we administer, were not given to us. We obtained these by force from our adversary.

More than 1200 sea-tigers sacrificed their lives during the last 15 years of struggle over maritime waters. We have now evolved into a formidable naval force commanding control over the northeastern seas. The price we have paid to earn our sovereign rights to waters is immeasurable.

Even during intense war, we were able to establish sea-links with distant lands at our will. No party was able to stop us then. How can anyone, especially within a period of peace, try to scuttle this ability? How can we permit this? Only recently the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) shook hands with us and was ready to start sea-tiger boats on a journey to the east. Now he is advancing new explanations to label our sea movements as illegal.

We are determined and will continue to engage in activities in sea in north-eastern waters that lie within our control perimeter. Any obstacle will be overcome with appropriate debilitating force.

Compiled from comments reported by Tamilnet

Amid near daily frights that Sri Lanka is once again at war, the international community seems at a loss as how to prevent a renewal of the conflict. Its actions even suggest that the only plan on the table is to allow hostilities to resume and figure out how to proceed after the dust has settled.

But the policies being pursued by international donors have contributed to this situation. International support has resulted in a strategic ‘no-loss’ scenario for the Sri Lankan state should it choose to resume hostilities. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government has already ruled out the possibility of any form of powersharing, federal or otherwise, to resolve the decades long ethnic conflict. This is even though the international community has consistently stated that it sees a federal solution as the only viable means of ending the conflict, because neither side has the ability to win militarily and impose its preferred solution on the other.

The peace process, as presently envisaged by the international community is to conclude with a federal solution, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) disarmed and the Sri Lankan state reformed toward a pluralist democracy. That was the grand plan.

But the present Sri Lankan administration has ruled out a federal solution, having won the democratic backing of the majority Sinhalese to do so. Should President Rajapkse also win the impending war, he would be able to ensure any solution falls far short of a federal solution. Should he lose, he would have to accept international plans for de-militarisation (i.e. disarming of the LTTE) and a federal solution. In other words, he will be no worse off than he is now. As such, recent efforts by the donor community to deny much needed funding to the Sri Lankan state to deter its hawkish intent may be too little, too late.

By contrast, the LTTE’s position is far more finely balanced. Should the LTTE win the impending conflict it is still a very long way from its stated goal of achieving a separate state, as it would still need to overcome significant resistance from the international community. The LTTE has indicated a willingness to consider federalism. A military victory would aid its efforts in achieving a greater degree of autonomy, but not necessarily independence.

But should the organization suffer a substantial defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankan armed forces, that would be a major setback for its project and for Tamil political ambitions. Moreover, it is very likely that in the aftermath of a significant victory over the Tigers, President Rajapakse’s government would continue the war, even at the cost of heavy Tamil civilian casualties, and seek a final solution to the Tamil ‘problem.’

This, after all, was exactly what happened in the late nineties. After Sri Lankan forces wrested the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE, President Chandrika Kumaratunga waged her infamous ‘war-for-peace’ - including an undisguised total embargo on food and medicine on Tamils in the so-called ‘uncleared’ areas. It should not be forgotten that for five years the war and the draconian embargo were sanctioned by Colombo’s international backers as a necessary evil towards ‘peace.’

Today, the major powers have already indicated that inflicting casualties on Tamil civilians in retribution for LTTE attacks is acceptable behaviour for the state. Repeated international messages commending Colombo’s ‘restraint’ in the face of LTTE attacks, whilst ignoring the retaliation by the military against Tamil civilians, have undoubtedly reinforced the message that such methods are acceptable. Other signs of the latitude extended to Colombo are the increasing omissions of civilian casualties in reports by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The LTTE, meanwhile, is singled out for criticism in the SLMM’s statements and increasingly free comments by its spokespeople.

The result of these international policies is that for the LTTE, and the Tamil people as a whole, any shift in the balance of forces toward the Sri Lankan state could result in horrendous consequences. Sri Lanka would undoubtedly once receive a nod to pursue a ‘war for peace’ should victory over the Tigers be deemed feasible. Indeed, on more than one occasion in the past four years, even as the Tigers pursued peace, various states have threatened action against the LTTE should war break out. This has also reinforced the Sri Lankan state’s strategic incentives to return to conflict.

Meanwhile, the viability of imposing sanctions against Sri Lanka has consistently been undermined due to the diversity of competing powers which are courting Colombo. A recent example was the ease with which Sri Lanka, upon being turned down by India, turned to the Pakistan-China axis to purchase heavy weapons.

The members of the international community, individually and collectively, have their own ambitions in the region. The compromise of a federal solution is a recent international suggestion, coinciding with a heightened need for a stable peace in south Asia. Both the notion of federalism, and the Norwegian-brokered peace process, stem from a shift from backing Sri Lanka in defeating the LTTE to conceding a military solution is not viable.

The larger objectives for the international community have included restoring stability to this geopolitically crucial island and, whilst doing so, avoiding a bipolar military outcome on it, such as that on the Korean peninsula. The potential dynamics of two military powers on the island of Sri Lanka, both of which could be situated in opposing geopolitical influences would complicate the controlling interests in this crucial region. The present inaction of the international community is self-explanatory, given these concerns.

But the only effective means of preventing Sri Lanka slipping back into conflict would be to substantially alter the incentives of both sides for a new war. This would mean conveying to the Sri Lankan state that, should it pursue a military solution and lose, then an independent state in the Sri Lanka’s Northeast is an outcome that the international community would be prepared to accept.

It is not necessary to impress upon the LTTE that should it lose, then international backing for a federal solution would be jeopardized. That is obvious. However, conveying a message to the LTTE that the international community takes the prevailing balance of forces seriously and would take credible measures to ensure that the LTTE’s position is not undermined by Colombo’s buildup and ‘shadow war’ is more likely to dissuade the LTTE from engaging in a new conflict to prevent the Sri Lankan state from becoming powerful enough to overwhelm it.

But then, such assurances to the LTTE would contradict the international community’s wider objectives of ensuring a bipolar military situation does not persist into the future. Indeed, should maintaining the ‘balance of forces’ become the central axiom of the peace process then it would be difficult to exclude this philosophy from a potential solution. Federalism, it must be noted, is not necessarily a two-army setup.

The overwhelming ambition, which both the international community and the Sri Lankan state share, is that a single military actor ends up controlling the island. Under the peace process mapped out by the international community, this outcome was entirely feasible, even inevitable. It short, it entailed the LTTE disarming in exchange for the Sri Lankan state reforming. That such reforms would have been consistently and effectively blocked by the sizeable nationalist elements in the South is not a problem that had been adequately considered.

Ironically, it is this common interest that has prevented the international community from making the necessary, albeit substantial, shift in strategy and taking easy steps to protect the only thing that can prevent a return to conflict – a continuing balance of forces. This perception is reinforced by the inconsistent approach adopted by the international community toward the declared objective of a multicultural Sri Lanka. For example, the international community’s failure to pressure the Sri Lankan military to stop retaliating against Tamil civilians has contributed to renewed ethnic polarization across the island.

The failure by international actors to condemn the attack on the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna, for example, and the larger failure to resist Sri Lanka’s measures to prevent foreign press and representatives of aid organizations from working in the Northeast are further evidence that the international community’s priority is not the creation of a truly liberal democracy, but the subduing of the Tamil rebellion. In other words, interests rather than humanitarian principles, are driving matters.

However, it is entirely likely that the international community is going to compelled to revisit its policies. The dynamics of the conflict continue to evolve and basing future policy determinations on observations of the past is not likely to prove fruitful. Given the scale and nature of the war which the Sri Lankan military intends to fight and the tremendous resistance the LTTE is demonstrably putting together, the conflict will have substantial, if not irrevocable, polarizing effects on the island’s peoples.

Meanwhile, the international community’s failures to underwrite and ensure implementation of a number of agreements made as part of the Norwegian peace process, including the still-born Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) has resulted in deep disillusionment amongst the Tamils.

There are three potential outcomes to a future military conflict: an overwhelming victory for either side or a continued military impasse. All three have consequences that make the international community’s envisaged outcome less likely.

The Sri Lankan military decision to fight a dirty war against civilians will result in an extremely polarized Tamil community in the homeland and Diaspora. Should that occur in either the event that there is a new stalemate or that there is a LTTE victory, the Tamils will demand a two state solution (or, at the very least, a federal solution where they control their own defence and finance). The only scenario where a one military solution is possible will be where Sri Lanka secures an overwhelming victory. But that will still result in stark ethnic polarization and, in all likelihood, Sri Lanka will descend into a slow bleeding insurgency.

Ultimately there needs to be a recognition by international actors that sanctioning of state violence contradicts many of their stated principles and thereby ensures that a federal solution, even in the medium term, becomes an impossibility. Furthermore, it needs to be acknowledged that the objective conditions for preventing a bipolar military outcome to Sri Lanka’s conflict disappeated when the LTTE overran the Elephant Pass base complex in 2000. The subsequent Norwegian peace process was indeed a valiant effort to put the genie back in the bottle but the uncompromising position of the Sri Lankan state has scuttled that project. The question is what to do now.

Jaffna based civilian organizations are protesting the abduction and killing by Sri Lankan security forces of eight youth guarding the Kelathu Amman temple in Jaffna during the night of Saturday, May 6. The organisations blamed the deaths on the government forces and called for an immediate end to extrajudicial killings and harassment of civilians.

Villagers who went searching for the eight missing youths in Manthuvil East in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna, found blood traces, pieces of clothes, 3 identity cards and six spent bullet cases.

The youth had gone to the Seerani Kelakkai temple in Manthuvil East, northeast of Chavakachcheri, to protect temple valuables during the grand Kumbabishekam festival being observed at the site. A teacher, who was also general secretary of the temple trustee board and four students were among the victims.

Blood traces found between the temple chariot and the temple, were covered with sand and boot prints were visible, press reports said.

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers go to the temple site regularly each evening., villagers said, stressing that the SLA was fully aware of the festival. On Saturday night, the soldiers also came to the site around 10:00 p.m.

The villagers report vehicle movement around 1:00 a.m. in the area, a few minutes before they heard more than eight gunshots. At 4:00 a.m. in the morning, another unusual movement was observed: a Buffel Armoured Personel Carrier and a jeep with SLA soldiers went to the site and stayed there for more than 30 minutes, reports said.

Later, there were reports that the bodies had been found in Kombimunai forest area near Kapputhu, an area straddling Vadamaradchy-Thenmaradchy border.

More than 1,000 residents had gathered to look for the bodies of the eight. But security forces dispersed them on Sunday afternoon. Immediately, SLA soldiers sealed off the roads and prevented entry to Kapputhu village. Several hundred troops were deployed near Kalikai junction that leads to Kapputhu, local residents said.

The police also imposed a curfew on the peninsula from midnight Sunday to 4pm Monday as the situation became tense following the reports of the bodies being found. The A9 highway leading into Jaffna from Killinochchi via the Muhamalai entry and exit point was also closed for civilian traffic during the curfew, while security was also strengthened at key locations in the Jaffna peninsula.

Members of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), who visited the site the following Monday morning, said that they could not locate any bodies. However, another human rights organisation found blood, empty cartridge shells and clothes backing the villagers reports.

The SLMM had been criticised earlier for delaying in getting to the site. "Almost 30 hours have passed since a crime against humanity has taken place at a temple site. The truce monitors from the SLMM in Jaffna are yet to visit the crime site or approach the area where the bodies are said to be found," accused S. Kajendran, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Jaffna district.

SLMM officials explained that the delay was caused due to the lack of resources – they did not have a translator or driver, according to the Director of the LTTE Peace Secretariat, Mr. S. Puleedevan, who said the SLMM delay was "too late".

Separately, a special investigating team of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) in Jaffna inspected the site on Tuesday, May 9, and recorded the statements of more than 50 residents. The team found blood stains, four empty cartridge shells and discarded clothes lying at site from where noise of gunfire was heard by residents, reports said.

Residents noted that it took Kodikamam police officials four days to visit the site, with police only visiting after the SLHRC team had been and gone.

A week before the killings, SLA soldiers had warned a group of civilians who were sleeping at the temple after festival preparations. S. Kajendran, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian said that the villagers had registered suspicious movement of a Jeep after the warning issued by the soldiers.

International truce monitors said last week they believe Sri Lankan troops are involved in killing ethnic Tamil civilians in the island’s north, contrary to government denials.

The unarmed Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said probable Tamil Tiger attacks on the military have been followed by disappearances and open killings of ethnic Tamil civilians.

“We have very strong indications that at least part of the government troops have been involved in these killings,” Jouni Suninen, the Finnish ex-army officer who heads the monitors’ northern Vavuniya office, said.

“The pattern is clear,” he added. In one case, a civilian was killed 60 metres from an army checkpoint. The soldiers told the monitors they heard nothing.

Suninen said at least 40 people have been killed in the last month by suspected Tigers, soldiers or associated groups around Vavuniya, just beyond the southern border of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territory.

The government denies any involvement in civilian killings, which come amid fears a low intensity conflict raging despite a 2002 truce could escalate into an all out return to a two-decade civil war.

The Tigers have pulled out of peace talks indefinitely and have warned the island is moving towards the fringes of war.

“Our troops are not involved in anything like that,” said army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. “They are disciplined.”

For the first time, the monitoring mission’s field staff were authorised to speak on the record about what they had found. They say publicity is the only weapon they have.

Previously, all media comment from the SLMM - which has 60 unarmed monitors from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland - has come from its Colombo headquarters.

Driving along a road only a couple of miles from the border in his white jeep, Finnish homicide policeman Jukka Heiskanen points out where three suspected Tiger fragmentation mine ambushes hit military patrols.

Some believe the Tigers deliberately wanted to inflame tensions and provoke retaliation to win sympathy in their struggle for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils.

The monitors say suspected military killings target civilians believed to be LTTE-linked. Ponnuthurai Thayanithi, 27, killed last week, had one sister who had died fighting for the Tigers but was not believed to have any direct link.

“This is where the girl was killed in the middle of the day,” Heiskanen said. “As you can see, we’re about 60 metres from an army checkpoint. There are always three soldiers there. The girl had two bullets in her head. They didn’t hear or see anything.”

Heiskanen said he asked the soldiers why they had not noticed the killing taking place within sight and earshot. They said that as the shots were fired, there was a particularly strong gust of wind, so they had heard nothing.

“I said ‘how do you know what was the exact time?’” he said. “It is ridiculous. They don’t even try to make things up.”

Police initially refused to come and inspect the body, said Heiskanen, adding the SLMM patrols were increasingly moving beyond simple monitoring into peacekeeping.

People have disappeared at government checkpoints and turned up dead. A white van seen before some of the killings appears to have moved with impunity through checkpoints and in one case was reportedly seen leaving an army camp, the monitors say.

Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka’s Northeast are bearing the brunt of an accelerating cycle of violence as vengeful troops, harried by a shadowy, unseen enemy, lash out at nearby residents instead.

Dozens of civilians have been shot out of hand, been abducted and murdered or killed in indiscriminate firing by Sri Lanka Army and Navy personnel. The Air Force has bombed civilian dwellings in retaliation for attacks blamed on the LTTE.

Jaffna has seen many of the incidents of mass killings, but civilians are being killed in all of Sri Lanka’s Tamil districts by vengeful troops taking casualties from a series of gun and grenade attacks.

The LTTE this week criticized international ceasefire monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for not doing more to stop the killings.

“Though the injured victims, the relatives of the killed and our Political office have submitted concrete evidence to the SLMM in Jaffna proving the killings of innocent civilians by security forces and paramilitaries, the evidence has not been made public by the SLMM,” the head of the LTTE’s political wing in Jaffna said.

“Unfortunately, this delay has resulted in marked escalation in killings,” he said further. “Withholding this evidence has in fact encouraged the killers to continue the murders.”

Analysts and reporters say Sri Lanka is at war, albeit an undeclared one. In the past two weeks, Sri Lanka’s air force has bombed targets in Tamil –Tiger held parts of the island, Navy gunboats have been sunk in Sea Tiger attacks, and deep penetration units of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and paramilitaries have launched raids into LTTE controlled areas.

But both sides are, officially at least, still committed to the February 2002 ceasefire. But international monitors say a ‘low intensity’ war has gradually broken out. The monitors, who oversee the truce, have meanwhile become mired in controversy and some have narrowly escaped becoming caught in the crossfire.

With almost 300 deaths estimated since early April and the worst military confrontation since the truce erupting at sea last week, the ongoing violence looks just like the now remembered periods of conflict, replete with clashes at sea and military retaliation against Tamil civilians.

“You could in some definition say we already have a war. We don’t have a peace agreement, we have a ceasefire agreement. So there is a war ongoing. It is a low-intensity war. You can say that,” Major General Ulf Henricsson, head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) told Reuters last week.

Over the weekend enraged Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel and paramilitary allies unleashed a wave of killings amongst Tamil residents of the islets of Jaffna, where the Navy has large bases.

At least thirteen people were killed when Navy troops and paramilitaries moved through residential areas throwing grenades and firing. Four children, including a baby and a toddler, were amongst the bloodied corpses found by fellow residents.

The Navy personnel were exacting revenge for the deaths of 18 navy personnel in a clash with the Sea Tigers off the Jaffna coast on Thursday.

Two Dvora gunboats were sunk and a ship carrying 700 soldiers was spared by Sea Tiger boats that trapped – only after frantic appeals by the SLMM whose officials were on board the ship.

The SLMM condemned the LTTE for violating the truce. But the LTTE, saying it was merely responding to SLN attacks on its own boats engaged in a training exercise, has warned monitors not to board SLN vessels in future.

“We urge you for the last time not to be on board Sri Lankan naval vessels until further notice from us. If you chose to ignore our warning and request, we are not responsible for the consequences,” the LTTE said in a letter which pointed out that the SLN was using the monitors’ presence as cover for its activities.

As this edition goes to print, there is confusion over the SLMM’s stand on monitoring the sea. Having declared on Saturday that the SLMM would no longer monitor the seas, the Nordic-staffed mission was reportedly acceding to Sri Lankan government pressure not to pull out of its naval role.

Residents in north and east Sri Lanka who were forced to flee their homes during the island’s two-decade civil war are bracing themselves, Reuters also reported. After the spate of attacks in recent weeks, some have packed their suitcases, while others are determined to stay put.

On Friday United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to “change course and bring the country back on a path to peace” in the wake of a continuing upsurge of violence.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan said he was disturbed by latest news of major sea and aerial attacks, including an attack on the troop vessel.

“He repeats his call on all the parties to summon the political will to resume their dialogue under the facilitation of the Norwegian Government,” the statement concluded.

Two weeks ago UN agencies began delivering food, safe water and other basic needs to over thousands of people displaced by recent clashes and government bombardments in parts of the island’s northeast.

But amid soaring civilian casualties, the international community’s hesitance to condemn the Sri Lanka government for its bombardments of Tamil areas has heightened Tamil frustrations. The impunity with which Sri Lankan forces are abducting and killing Tamil civilians or simply shooting them out of hand has fuelled Tamil rage.

Tamil press reports say large numbers of youth are joining the LTTE, which has urged the people to join the liberation struggle.

Meanwhile, the international community has condemned the LTTE for the violence, whilst praising the ‘restraint’ of the Sri Lanka military.

“The reckless behaviour of the LTTE in the last days can only contribute to a dangerous escalation that results in growing hostilities and jeopardises any possibility for future peace talks,” the European Union said in a statement.

“The claim by LTTE that SLMM has put its own monitors at risk by allowing them to travel on naval vessels is utterly unacceptable,” it added.

The United States on Friday condemned the attack on a Sri Lankan naval vessel, saying the violence might result in returning of civil war.

“We are deeply concerned about the escalating violence by the Tamil Tigers, which has put Sri Lanka at risk of a return to war,” said a statement by Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs.

“We urge the government of Sri Lanka to continue to show restraint in the face of these provocations,” said the US statement.

However, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse threatened the LTTE with further attacks by his military.

“If they insist on continuing their attacks, I will have to defend my country,” Rajapakse said in an interview published in Colombo’s Sunday times.

“I have vowed to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka,” Rajapakse was quoted as saying.

Amid international calls for talks, Rajapakse told the Sunday Times this week: “It is my personal view that the ethnic issue should not have been internationalised. We should have treated it as a domestic issue and resolved it ourselves. As for me, I do not want to internationalise it any further.”

However, Rajapakse also demanded the international community must pressure the Tigers to enter into peace negotiations with him.

“It is important to have direct negotiations to de-escalate violence which have come very far”, Japan’s peace envoy to Sri Lanka Yasushi Akashi said last week after visiting Sri Lanka.

Simmering violence continued across Sri Lanka’s Northeast this week, with little prospect of the ‘shadow war’ between Army-backed paramilitaries and the Liberation Tigers ceasing or of harassment of Tamil civilians by the military easing.

More than 150 people, including military personnel, LTTE cadres and many Tamil civilians, have died in the last month in the bloodiest period by far since a 2002 ceasefire.

Apart from a suicide bombing within the heart of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) headquarters in Colombo that killed eleven people and wounded 30, including Army Chief, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, and the government’s subsequent revenge bombardment that in two days of heavy shelling and bombing killed 18 Tamil civilians as well as an LTTE raid on three paramilitary camps which killed 30 gunmen, there have been over 90 deaths, mainly of civilians.

Unsolved killings - particularly of Tamil civilians - continue in the north and east. The government has denied any involvement in the killings, but Army-backed paramilitaries and security forces have come under criticism by international truce monitors and human rights groups.

“Jaffna has become a graveyard,” 20-year-old student Suresh Rajaratnam told Reuters. “Every day, there is an average of three killings.”

In the wake of the suicide bombing, the capital Colombo remains jumpy, Reuters reported. Vehicles approaching the business district are stopped and checked, and police commandos have joined private security guards at the entrance to high- profile economic and financial targets.

Sri Lanka’s main political parties called off their main May Day rallies amid security fears. A government spokesman said that all political parties which met with President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday agreed to cancel their main public rallies marking May Day, a key celebration that allows political parties in the island nation to display their strength.

Earlier, representatives from the key states overseeing the Sri Lanka peace process met in Oslo on Friday to discuss ways to stop the escalation of violence.

The European Union, the United States, Norway and Japan are the ‘Co-chairs’ of the peace process, which has all but disintegrated save for a fragile truce between the Sri Lanka government and the Tamil Tigers.

Norway’s International Development Minister Erik Solheim, chairing last week’s talks, which were focused on “what can be done to get the parties to respect the cease-fire and continue with the peace process,” the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said.

“I am extremely concerned about the recent upsurge in violence in Sri Lanka,” Mr. Solheim said.

“The international community will now come together to discuss this serious situation,” he said ahead of the meeting.

Assistant US Secretary of State Richard Boucher represented Washington at the Oslo meeting, while the EU sent Deputy Director of External Relations Herve Jouanjean and Yasushi Akashi, Japan’s special peace envoy to Sri Lanka, represented Tokyo.

“We strongly urge the parties to sit down together for talks in order to put a stop to the violence,” Mr. Solheim.

The two sides might not resume peace talks soon, the chief ceasefire monitor said Monday.

“When I look into the activities of the two parties, I am not quite so optimistic any longer about the peace talks in the near future,” Ulf Henricsson, the Swedish head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), told The Associated Press.

“Both parts are violating the cease-fire agreement, so a lot of people ask us whether the cease-fire is still on,” Henricsson said.

“Of course in reality not, because there are a lot of violations, but the agreement is still valid and the parties have not terminated it, so I think we still have a basis for negotiations,” he said.

“We will not go back to a full-scale war, because for me there is no military victory possible for (any) of the parties.”

Although a second round of talks were scheduled to be held in Geneva on April 24-26, the effort collapsed after Sri Lanka refused its customary practice of flying LTTE commanders from their controlled areas in the island’s volatile east to their main bastion in Vanni, northern Sri Lanka.

The Tigers have said they must hold a meeting among themselves before they agree to attend the planned peace talks in Geneva. They also insist the government disarms Army-backed paramilitaries whose murderous campaign against LTTE cadres and supporters – and counter-violence by the LTTE –over the past two years have frayed the truce and precipitated the present intense violence.

With regards the LTTE’s eastern commanders, the government initially insisted Colonel Sornam and Colonel Bhanu should travel by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) boat, a provocative demand rejected by the LTTE.

Amid escalating violence and international pressure, Colombo later agreed to allow international truce monitors to move the officers by small private helicopters, but the LTTE insists that only the large Air Force helicopters with their sophisticated defences could be deemed safe enough.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera will be travelling to New Delhi over the weekend to seek India’s action to coerce the LTTE to the negotiating table.

But analysts said this week that India is not yet at a point where it wants to walk back into the Lanka quagmire, and little short of complete breakdown where it directly impacts India’s security interests, Delhi will counsel from the sidelines.

Lieutenant General A.S. Kalkat, who is said to have led the most difficult expedition of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) in the late 1980s, told Gulf News that India cannot be a participant in the Lankan peace process because that would only make a complex issue more difficult.

Samaraweera will meet foreign secretary Shyam Saran, national security adviser M K Narayanan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reports said.

India has been a key player in the island’s peace process in the past few weeks, repeatedly intervening to compel Colombo to call off its vengeful retaliation against Tamil civilians for the suicide bombing and, earlier, to pressure Colombo to allow the LTTE commander’s movement.

A fact-finding team of civil society representatives traveled to Trincomalee on 16th and 17th of April 2006 in the wake of reports of civil unrest in the District. The findings of this mission have left us gravely concerned by the events that have unfolded in Trincomalee over the past week; events which have left over 20 civilians dead, over 30 shops and 100 homes destroyed by fire and over 3000 persons displaced and seeking refuge in schools and places of worship.

On 12th April, a bomb exploded in the vegetable market in Trincomalee town, leaving five persons, including one child, dead. Within 15 minutes of the explosion, a gang of armed Sinhala persons began a rampage through the business area of the town, setting Tamil shops on fire, and looting goods. According to bystanders, though the gang never consisted of more than 100 at any given time, there was no reasonable attempt made by the security forces to prevent the violence.

Several people have been reported killed in and around the market on the 12th during the course of the rioting. Some bodies were thrown into the flames of the burning shops. 19 deaths, including of 7 women, have been reported so far; however the figure is rising daily. The burning of bodies has resulted in delays in identification, and has destroyed traces of mutilation and sexual assault prior to the death.

Over 30 shops were burned in all, the majority belonging to Tamils and 2 to Muslims. It appeared that several large shops were specifically targeted – among them were Hari Electricals, the Dollar Agency, the Dialog Company and the Sunlight (Lever Brothers) Agency. The mob also attacked the Hatton National Bank.

Other incidents of violence, including arson and murder took place outside the town. The body of a young Sinhala man, identified as Nissanka, was found in Mahindapura on the 14th April. He had been missing since the 13th. Subsequently the Sinhala villagers of Mahindapura went on a rampage in the neighbouring Tamil village Nadesapura and set fire to over 40 homes. The office of the Trincomalee District Youth Development Organization (AHAM) was attacked and several vehicles belonging to the organization were set on fire; the Hindu temple in the village was also attacked.

Similar incidents have taken place in Thuwarangkadu, resulting in the displacement of almost 1000 persons, and in Andankulam, where several houses were burnt down. The houses in Andankulam were new, built under a post-tsunami reconstruction scheme.

The violence, as well as the fear and insecurity experienced by the civilians, has led to a fairly substantial displacement. As of the 20th April, the District Secretariat, Trincomalee, had this figure at 2673 persons (723 families).

This does not take into account the large numbers who are residing with family and friends, and those who are simply leaving their homes at night-time for more secure locations. The response to the displacement, even from NGOs, has been slow, hampered by the prevailing tensions and lack of personnel. In some areas government assistance was received only on the 18th April, despite the fact that people were displaced on the 14th April.

The speed with which the violence erupted after the explosion seems to indicate an element of pre-planning that is extremely disturbing. Two observers referred to the situation as being reminiscent of the anti-Tamil riots of July 1983.

The rioting lasted for over two hours, during the daytime. During this entire period the armed forces and the Police did almost nothing to prevent the violence from taking place. There are several very credible eye witness accounts to the manner in which the security forces stood by and allowed the burning and killing to take place.

Although there is a multi-ethnic Citizens’ Committee led by religious leaders of all communities in Trincomalee town, as well as Peace Committees initiated by the Police at the level of every Grama Sevaka Division, they have been ineffective in the face of the recent incidents of violence.

There is a very high degree of mistrust and animosity between the Sinhala and Tamil communities in particular. Groups remain polarized on the basis of ethnicity and there is no structure that has the capacity to bring them together in a positive and constructive manner. Even well-established social activists expressed their fear of taking the initiative to assist those affected by the violence; some of them were already receiving threatening telephone calls.

Given that Trincomalee has always been a flashpoint for ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, it is imperative that civil society organizations in the south concentrate on strengthening existing networks and building new ones, to give a truly plural character to the moderate and peace-loving voices of Trincomalee’s peoples and to ensure that a slide back into barbaric ethnic tensions does not arise.

On the basis of its findings, we wish to highlight the following areas of concern and appeal to the government, political parties, non-governmental organizations and all members of civil society,

Immediate steps must be taken to ensure that all emergency and humanitarian assistance necessary is extended to those displaced by the violence; rebuilding of houses should be a priority;

A delegation of senior members of all leading political parties should undertake a visit to Trincomalee to meet with all sections of the population as a confidence-building measure;

The government should devise some means of accepting accountability for the inability of the security forces to prevent the violence; a collective apology from the state and from southern political parties to the people of Trincomalee would go a long way towards re-building bridges of communication and trust;

An independent investigation into the violence following the bomb explosion on 12th April should be undertaken by a team comprising representatives of government and non-government bodies; the investigation should aim at recording the various testimonies regarding the incidents and at making recommendations to the government regarding justice and redress for the victims;

These measures should take into account the culture of impunity that has prevailed in Sri Lanka, taking on board the experiences of previous commissions, and ensure that concrete steps are taken and implemented by the government to end impunity;

Civil society organizations should create a ‘rapid response’ network that will make regular and systematic visits to their partners and colleagues in Trincomalee in order to monitor the situation;

Payment of compensation should be transparent, unbiased and acceptable to all affected parties;

Institutions such as the District office of the National Human Rights Commission should be reinforced with material and human resources to enable it to act more effectively in a time of crisis such as this;

The Citizens’ Committee should be strengthened so that it can act independently and with the recognition of the authorities;

We note that the LTTE have been engaged in acts of armed attacks against the security forces resulting in further heightening tension and fear within the community and the Trincomalee area. We appeal to the LTTE to:

Halt these acts of violence and commit to the pursuit of its objectives through non-violent and democratic means;

Ensure that there are no obstacles in providing emergency and humanitarian assistance to those displaced by the violence and facilitate in creating a safe environment for the implementation of aid work by agencies and individuals;

It is imperative that all political actors are aware of the dangers involved in not taking control of the situation and ensuring that the potential for heightened violence in Trincomalee is curbed. The creation of an environment in which people can return to their homes and their livelihoods should be given priority.

In the current climate of insecurity, attempts by some politically motivated groups to incite ethnic and religious hatred should be dealt with immediately and all citizens need to be more vigilant about these manipulations. The fragility of the peace process at this moment calls for a concerted initiative to safeguard the CFA and strengthen the voices for peace in Sri Lanka.

Signed,
- Sunila Abeysekera, Udaya Kalupathirana: INFORM
- Packiasothy Saravanamuttu, Rohan Edrisinha, Devanesan Nesiah, Bhavani Fonseka, Mirak Raheem: Centre For Policy Alternatives
- Ramani Muttetuwegama: Law And Society Trust
-P.D. Gunatilaka: Devasarana Development Centre
-Buddhika Weerasinghe: Free Media Movement
-Ambika Satkunanathan, Soundarie David, Charan Rainford, Nimanthi Rajasingham, Sonali Moonesinghe, P. Thambirajah, S. Varatharajan, International Centre For Ethnic Studies
-Nimalka Fernando, International Movement Against Racial Discrimination
- Kumudini Samuel, Sepali Kottegoda Women And Media Collective
- Jayadeva Uyangoda, Social Scientists’ Association
- Rukshana Nanayakkara, Transparency International, Sri Lanka
- Anita Nesiah
- Manouri Muttetuwegama
- Darini Rajasingham
- Tharumini Wijekoon
- Samatha, Jawaharlal Nehru University

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.

Sri Lanka’s Army Commander remained on life support this week after being seriously wounded by a suicide bomber within the sprawling Army Headquarters in Colombo last Tuesday.

Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka and 30 others were wounded in the attack while eight of his bodyguards, two civilians and the alleged bomber herself were killed.

The attack, which shocked Sri Lanka’s military and political establishments, took place within the confines of the high security Army Headquarters in Colombo. A female suicide bomber entered the heavily-fortified compound and threw herself before the Army Commander’s motorcade, detonating explosives strapped to her person.

Five of Lt. Gen. Fonseka’s bodyguards were killed on the spot, and another 6 people have subsequently died. Lt. Gen. Fonseka, who received serious abdomen and chest injuries, was rushed to Colombo’s National Hospital where he underwent several rounds of surgery. The latest reports said he is now in a “stable condition”, but remains in intensive care.

Gen. Fonseka has still not regained full consciousness and is still on a ventilator, the Sunday Times quoted a surgeon as saying. The surgeon who was involved in the three-hour operation said the situation at one point was “touch and go” but the Commander pulled through.

“Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, who underwent four operations at the National Hospital, after being attacked by a suicide bomber on Tuesday, spoke a few words to his doctors last morning”, reported the Daily Mirror.

An organisation calling itself the High Security Zone Residents’ Liberation Force claimed responsibility for the attack, saying “the LTTE is merely wasting time by maintaining a ceasefire.” But many analysts charge this is a front organisation for the Liberation Tigers.

Some reports, quoting Sri Lankan officals, said the bomber pretended to be pregnant, while some subsequent reports suggested she was actually pregnant. Sri Lankan police told PTI they have reconstructed her face, but it was not medically proved if she was indeed pregnant as she had claimed.

“A top investigator said there was no forensic evidence to suggest she was pregnant except a record at the army hospital that she claimed she was carrying a child and had gone there to attend the ‘maternity day’ clinic” the news agency reported.

Police believe the woman was 21-year-old Anoja Kugenthirasah from the northern Vavuniya district. Police said her mobile phone was destroyed but they managed to recover the SIM card. Other press reports said the woman had received a call after the Army Commander left his office, prompting her to rush out into his route.

A police team investigating last Tuesday’s attack has detained at least five suspects, with two of them being family members of the alleged bomber from Puvarasankulam in Vavuniya. Two family members from the house at the address were arrested and taken to Colombo for interrogation.

Detectives found that the alleged bomber had stayed in a lodge in Colombo. Police also detained the lodge owner who was later released. Detectives had found out that the bomber had visited the Army Headquarters on a few occasions as an officer’s wife who was pregnant. Investigators are trying to find out how she had entered the high security area without arousing suspicion and being checked, the Sunday Times reports.

A senior official of the Criminal Investigation Department said that the investigators “believe that there would be someone inside, who provided and help to the suicide bomber to gain access to the premises and the Commander’s movement.”

“Someone inside tipped her off that Lt. Gen. Fonseka’s motorcade was approaching,” The Sunday Times reported.

On hearing about the attack, President Mahinda Rajapakse met with his most senior political and military advisors and then attended an emergency Cabinet meeting. He then called an all party meeting, where the other main political parties, including the main opposition United National Party, the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Buddhist monk party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya.

Close to midnight on the day of the attack, the President went to the National Hospital where emergency surgery had just been concluded on Lt. Gen. Fonseka. The Sunday Times Political Column reported that he egged on the medical staff, saying “I would like you all to ensure a quick recovery for him.”

The Tamil Tigers do not seem unduly worried over the decimation of a beachfront training camp by this week’s air strikes in Sri Lanka’s north-eastern Trincomalee district.

S Elililan, the local Tiger political chief, says they had come to know of the military air strikes a good three hours before they began and informed the public.

“That is why we had such few casualties,” says Mr Elililan, sitting in his spanking new office, as an aide videotapes our meeting.

Two days of air strikes and shelling in Muthur left 15 people dead and more than 40 wounded - and the Tigers claim they have not lost any of their people.

Nestling in the sands of the wide beach in Sampore in Muthur, the destroyed beachfront LTTE training camp looks pretty rudimentary.

There is a thatched “classroom” where Tigers took lessons and watched television.

Outside on the sand, says my guide Yasodharan, the Tigers underwent six months of rigorous weapons training.

Twenty-five-year-old Tiger Kariavalan, who joined two years ago, expresses anger about the air strikes.

“Rather than suffer and lose our people bit by bit, we can fight once and for all,” he says.

“We are ready for war. We are waiting for orders from our leader. We hope he will give a call to war,” he says.

The damage in Muthur - hit by air strikes and shelling following the suicide attack on the nation’s army chief in Colombo - appears to be limited.

Most of the homes are intact, but outside the LTTE camp we see a gold shop and a house which have been destroyed in the attacks.

The electricity lines of Sampor which were destroyed in the shelling are being repaired by workers of the country’s Ceylon Electricity Board.

There is an effort to bring back things to normality.

The bumpy, red-earth roads of the Tiger-controlled areas are dotted with their health centres, banks, rest houses, post offices, the Tamil Eelam administrative service office, and mills. There are lush farms and red-tiled homes.

But look closely and you find that many homes are empty.

There is a great deal of fear, and most Tamils have fled their homes for makeshift dwellings under trees and in local schools.

For the time being, however, there does not seem to be a shortage of food - local NGOs and the Tamil Relief Organisation are already providing that. German wheat flour and Chinese mackerel in tomato sauce are already being shipped in.

Yasmin Ali Haque, a co-ordinator for Unicef in the area, says 5,600 people who fled Muthur are camped out at a school in Paddalipuram, fearful to go home because of the shelling.

“Adults in this area remember the aerial attacks from the early 1990s but they have never been exposed to shelling. People are very worried and scared,” she says.

Among the anxious families are Amrithalingam and his wife and children, who had just had lunch on Tuesday when they heard a thud. Then shots rang out in the midday heat.

The family huddled in a ditch outside their home until it was over.

Amrithalingam and his wife, Asha - with their four children on a tractor - walked five miles to Paddalipuram and joined other families who had set up camp under a tree.

Sandstorms lash them during the day, while mosquitoes prevent a good night’s sleep.

“We are scared to return. Three neighbours died in the shelling. It looks like the war is returning. But we want peace,” says Asha.

Back at Muthur, Mr Elililan says they are not returning to all-out conflict.

“We are being patient. We have never been this patient in the past after the sort of attack that has happened. Because there’s an environment of peace,” he says.

But peace could be on borrowed time in the Tiger heartland.

“From the beginning we have known war is the only solution,” says Mr Elililan. “Six rounds of talks have not yielded anything.”

It is not going to be easy restoring peace to Sri Lanka.

The last time Sinnathurai Kandasamy saw his wife, Thiraviyam, was a little over two weeks ago, when she left home for a hospital check-up in the east coast Sri Lankan town of Trincomalee.

Hours later Sinnathurai found his wife dead in a mortuary. A bullet had blown her left cheek away. Her eye was missing. Gone too were her ear lobes and fingers - chopped off for the gold jewellery she adored.

The 59-year-old was a victim of the violence that swept through the town’s main market just over a fortnight ago. It began with a bomb blast that the authorities blamed on the Tamil Tigers - a group that wants a state for the country’s 3 million Tamils carved out of Sri Lanka, which is dominated by the majority Buddhist Sinhalese population.

What followed in Trincomalee, say its residents, was murderous retribution. They tell of how the town square filled with Sinhalese mobs armed with knives and pistols. The town’s Tamils say this was a premeditated killing spree.

“The market is next to an army camp. There are armed police and soldiers there. Yet they just stood by. What had my wife done to deserve this?” asked Sinnathurai, between tears.

There are tales of butchery and rape. Shops owned by Tamils were burnt. Later the Tamil Tigers slaughtered five Sinhalese farmers in retaliation.

The trouble, say Tamils, started last November when a statue of Buddha materialised overnight in the square, a provocative religious act for the mainly Hindu Tamils of the town. Local Sinhalese claim that after Tamils won control of the council, there were overt displays of support for “terrorists”.

This reaction and, sometimes blatant, discrimination by the Sinhalese authorities has fed separatism among the local Tamils.

“They are trying to provoke us into becoming terrorists,” said Murugaiah Anandan, the nephew of Sinnathurai. “My aunt lay on the road for four hours. No one cares what happens to us. Why should we not join and fight?”

Trincomalee’s centre is now deserted, save for the heavily armed Sri Lankan soldiers at every crossing. Along the main drag, the shops are either shuttered or charred wrecks.

Concentrated mostly in the north and east of this small island nation in the Indian Ocean, these spasms of destruction punctuate daily life. They are some way from the full-scale conflict that the country witnessed for two decades since 1983, which claimed over 65,000 lives.

But in parts of Sri Lanka today the scene is of daily assassinations, abductions and gunbattles between armed groups.

At the heart of the matter is the refusal by both sides to adhere to the peace agreement signed in February. The Tigers promised to abjure from violence and in return the government agreed to rein in “armed groups” operating in its territory - a reference to a new Tamil paramilitary outfit led by the breakaway Tamil Tiger commander Karuna. Neither has happened.

Five hours drive from Trincomalee is Batticaloa, a palm-fringed town which straddles a blue lagoon that has become the frontline of a brutish battle between government-backed Karuna fighters and battle-hardened Tigers.

Large red letters daubed on lampposts proclaim that Batticaloa is under the control of the TMVP, initials in Tamil that stand for Karuna’s Tamil People’s Liberation party. The word on the street is that Karuna’s party is being built up as an alternative, more cooperative Tamil force capable of taking over administrative and police functions in the east of the country. Karuna’s troops are sheltered in the army’s barracks.

Batticaloa’s streets are now segregated into pro-Tiger and pro-Karuna fiefdoms. On the day the Guardian arrived in Batticaloa the Tigers killed 18 Karuna fighters, an act which was followed by the army spraying the town with bullets in hot pursuit of LTTE soldiers.

Report filed from Trincomalee Monday May 1, 2006

The recent escalation of violence that has put the Ceasefire Agreement under severe pressure, seems in many ways to reflect the mutually reinforcing relationship between Sinhalese and Tamil nationalisms and their respective protagonists. In such circumstances an argument is put forward more vociferously that the ‘extremism’ and ‘provocation’ of the LTTE’ feeds and justifies and the ‘hardline’ political rhetoric of Sinhala politicians and the violence of the state’s armed forces. This perspective has in many ways informed the myriad of actors who have contributed to the recent peace process, either as direct participants or as advisors offering comment and analysis to the major players.

Advocates of this perspective have argued that the only way to wean the Sinhalese population away from the uncompromising positions of nationalist actors is to transform the LTTE. Transformation of the LTTE has thus been the mantra that has guided many international analysts and policy maker for the last three or four years.

The argument goes thus: if the LTTE’s military capacity is radically curtailed and its political autonomy contained within the boundaries of commitment to a ‘united’ or ‘unitary’ Sri Lanka, the Sinhala hardliners will no longer be able to mount such vehement opposition to any mention of devolution or federalism. Once the LTTE has been de – fanged, more moderate Sinhala politicians will be able to confidently advocate a political solution that grants significant autonomy to the Tamils.

It is also argued that while the LTTE remains a significant military and political ‘threat’, ‘spoilers’ in the south will always outbid moderate Sinhala politicians attempts to find a negotiated settlement by whipping up the Sinhala polity’s anxieties about a separate Tamil state. In the idiom of its exponents, the claim that transformation of the LTTE will undermine Sinhala ‘spoilers’ of the peace process and thereby allow for the ‘reform of the state by liberal actors is now almost axiomatic.

Given the current perilous standoff between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, it might be time to examine the basic premises of this argument. According to the ‘transform the LTTE first’ mantra, the political plausibility of Sinhala nationalist positions is directly related to the actions and perceived intentions of the LTTE.

However, a close examination of the dynamics of politics within the Sinhala polity would suggest that southern opposition to any form of political devolution for the Tamils is sustained through sources that are completely independent of the LTTE per se.

The ideal of a unitary Sinhala Buddhist state in which the minorities have a politically recognised but subordinate position, resonates with the interests of a multitude of groups within the Sinhala polity. A compromise with the Tamils is rejected, not because of anxieties or loathing of the LTTE (alone), but because such a compromise would necessarily destroy this utopian vision, the most basic political assumption and aspiration of Sinhala Buddhist common sense.

The vision of a unitary Sinhala Buddhist state in which there is both a massive centralisation of resources and seamless continuity between the language, rituals and beliefs of the Sinhala Buddhist world and the institutions of the state, clearly has its appeal both for political elites and for non elite sections of the polity. For aspirant social groups, a centralised Sinhala Buddhist state not only provides opportunities through public sector employment through which they can achieve upward mobility, it also protects and fosters the integrity of their Sinhala Buddhist world.

It is for this reason that all political concessions to the Tamils, however mild, are immediately interpreted as both a material and moral threat. Any minor political recognition of a Tamil claim to the island or the state can be seen as undermining both the Sinhala Buddhist state and the Sinhala Buddhist religious, cultural and linguistic world that it protects. So for example, attempts during the 1950’s and 1960’s to replace the Sinhala Only’ legislation with official recognition for Tamil were decried as attempts to ‘destroy the Sinhala race’ or ‘make the Sinhalese learn Tamil.’

The continuation of this phenomenon can be seen in the fierce opposition that was mounted against both the PTOMS and the LTTE’s proposals for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA). The ‘transform the LTTE’ school of thought often argues that both these proposals conceded far too much to the LTTE and thereby played straight into the hands of the Sinhala ‘spoilers.’

However, it must be remembered that opposition to both proposals mounted well before the actual details of the proposal were released. The substance of the proposals was therefore irrelevant, what was problematic for the Sinhala Buddhists was the recognition of a Tamil political identity that these proposals entailed. Both the PTOMS and the ISGA contained the assumption that the Tamils have legitimate political interests that have to be recognised and accommodated through institutions outside the control of the Sinhala Buddhist polity. It is this possibility that is deeply problematic for the Sinhala Buddhist psyche. This is not a recent phenomena, either; well before the emergence of the LTTE, attempts by Tamil political leaders to negotiate a compromise with their Sinhala counterparts were destroyed by opposition using the imagery of a Sinhala Buddhist state and world under threat.

While the Sinhala Buddhist state fosters and protects the social aspirations of non – elite Sinhalese, it is also a useful resource for political elites. The excessively centralised state gives political actors vast resources with which to build patron – client networks and consolidate their power. Neither the UNP nor the SLFP, the two main Sinhala parties, have robust party structures and both rely on access to the state’s resources to build and maintain a support base. Political competition therefore revolves on the distribution of the state’s resources. The parties in power can distribute resources through subsidies and patronage while the parties in opposition promise greater resource while mobilising the discontent of sections who have been excluded from government largesse.

Crucially, the political parties have no incentive to aggressively promote a political settlement and even if they had an incentive, they do not have the party organisation through which to spread such a message. Political competition is played out in a public sphere dominated by Sinhala Buddhist common sense.

Alongside their deep antipathy to any form of political recognition for the Tamils, Sinhala Buddhist nationalists are also deeply intolerant to every form of autonomous Tamil political activity. In Sri Lanka this leads this results in all expressions of an autonomous Tamil political identity being dismissed as results of LTTE manipulation and coercion. The same principle is increasingly being extended to the international arena and Tamil Diaspora political activity is carefully watched for ‘pro-LTTE’ tendencies by the Sinhala nationalist press. The baleful distrust and anxiety created by Tamil participation in local government (council) elections in far away England recently led The Island newspaper to print a front page story. IAccording to the paper, ‘pro LTTE’ individuals standing for local council elections are promising a mini Eelam in London with sports facilities, funding for Saturday schools and centres for the elderly, exclusively for Tamils. The argument of the story is clear – all Tamil political activity, however mild and unconnected to the ethnic question, is inherently separatist and dangerous. The fact that local councils in Britain have long provided such community facilities for their Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Chinese, Turkish and Pakistani citizens is somehow missed. ‘Even’ in Britain, today the Tamils are asking for a Saturday school, tomorrow they will want a separate state, the logic goes.

The poisonous racism that pervades mass circulation Island’s reporting of British Tamils is pervasive in wider Sinhala society and is reproduced within a variety of sources, over which the LTTE can have no possible influence. The political vision of a united Sinhala Buddhist Sri Lanka is reinforced and repeated through the media, the education system, public institutions, the rhetoric of politicians and recently the interventions of international actors.

Meanwhile, the biased and one sided international response to events in Sri Lanka simply reinforces the Sinhala Buddhist conviction that all Tamil political demands are indeed a moral threat to the Sri Lankan state and the Sinhala Buddhist world it protects. Each condemnation of the LTTE and its ‘reprehensible terrorist’ nature, every failure of the international community to stand by agreements such as the PTOMS, every instance where incidents of high profile violence against Tamils are followed by indifferent international silence, the Sinhala Buddhist position is once again assured of its (international) legitimacy.

Given that the sources of Sinhala Buddhist nationalist are demonstrably independent of the LTTE, transforming and containing the LTTE is unlikely to produce an attitude of compromise within the Sinhala polity. Indeed, once the Tiger has been de – fanged, there will be even less reason for Sinhala political leaders to concede even a modicum of political devolution. Attempts to transform the Sri Lankan state, which would give the Tamils some form of political recognition, would, as always, instantly arouse opposition as a cloak for dangerous Tamil separatist aspirations.

In order to transform the Sri Lankan state both pro peace advocates and the Sinhala polity have to replace their unhealthy fixation with the LTTE with a serious consideration of the sites and mechanisms through with Sinhala Buddhist nationalism is reproduced. International actors have to consider why they cannot confront Sinhala Buddhist nationalism of the Sri Lankan state with the same open contempt with which they dismiss Tamil aspirations.

As is increasingly argued on the Tamil street, in the absence of any change in either the Sinhala Buddhist or international mindset, the Tamils, whose struggle has never enjoyed or needed external legitimisation, may be better off concentrating on changing facts on the ground.

Sri Lanka this week vehemently protested accusations by international truce monitors that government forces have been responsible for extrajudicial killings and rejected their ruling that that the airstrikes last Tuesday and Wednesday in Trincomalee were a violation of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement.

Officials of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said they “fear that government security forces have, in the north and the east, been involved in extrajudicial killings of civilians. This conviction is based on our observation and inquiries on the ground.”

“The air strikes that were conducted by the Sri Lankan Government in Trincomalee district on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targets in Sampoor area on 25 and 26 April 2006 are a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement. Article 1.2 of the Ceasefire Agreement clearly states “Neither Party shall engage in any offensive military operation,” said the press release issued by the SLMM Saturday.

The government of Mahinda Rajapakse, which has clashed with the SLMM recently over the latter’s criticism of the presence of anti-LTTE paramilitaries in Army-controlled areas, angrily rejected the SLMM statement.

“We are surprised that the statement has been made at a time when the country is reeling from the bomb attacks carried out by the Tigers,” said Palitha Kohona, secretary general of the government’s peace secretariat, referring to the statement on extra-judicial killings.

“We are unconvinced about the ‘facts’ on which the statement has been made by the SLMM,” Kohona told AFP.

He made no comment on the other statement that government air strikes on northeastern Trincomalee district Tuesday and Wednesday were a clear violation of the 2002 ceasefire accord.

SLMM spokesperson Helen Olafsdottir reiterated the ceasefire monitors were following up on some “alarming” cases of extra judicial killings allegedly carried out by certain elements in the security forces but stressed that it did not mean the killings were part of a coordinated act of the government, reported the Daily Mirror.

“What we are saying is there are some rogue elements in the security forces, about whom the government may not be aware of. We want to bring this to the notice of the government,” she said. “We met the defence secretary [Monday] and raised the matter. I must emphasize this is not an overall judgment on the government forces.”

But Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, government spokesman on security matters, told AP “The government is not involved in any way in the so-called extra-judicial killings.”

“We categorically deny the charges, which are outrageous and not based on facts,” he said.

Commenting on the criticism over the SLMM ruling of the aerial bombing in Trincomalee, Ms. Olafsdottir stressed the only reason the aerial bombing was ruled as a violation was because there was no proof to say the LTTE fired on the Sri Lanka Navy first as claimed by the government.

The military has said it acted in self-defence when it launched the air and naval strikes, but coming after the attempted assassination in Colombo on Tuesday of the army chief, the attacks are seen as retaliation.

Ms. Olafsdottir also dismissed allegations that the SLMM was silent on the suicide bombing at the army headquarters, stating that the very next day the head of mission Ulf Henrikson in interviews with the international media raised suspicions of LTTE involvement.

“In the statement we released on the day of the suicide attack we said we could not point fingers as inquiries were just beginning. Now that the government has made some leads with the inquiries into the Colombo bombing, we are waiting for the results in order to make a ruling,” she said.

The SLMM on Saturday warned that any further operations by government forces would “only add fuel to the conflict.”