Britain’s trust in the safeguards built into the constitution of Ceylon at independence was misplaced and their weakness is to blame for the island’s present problems, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mr. Dominic Silcott, said in an interview with the Sunday Virakesari.

In a wide-ranging interview last weekend, Mr. Silcott said that LTTE and the Sri Lanka government must now negotiate an end to the conflict. The UK and the United States were in agreement on their policies on Sri Lanka, he also said, adding that India also wants a negotiated solution to the conflict.

The UK High Commissioner was asked to comment on accusations that ‘divide and rule’ policies of the British colonial administration precipitated the present ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka.

“When the British came to Ceylon in 1796 there were three distinct kingdoms. The British made it one country for purposes of administrative convenience,” Mr. Silcott explained.

“In over half the number of countries in the world the British colonial rulers adopted a ‘divide and rule’ policy. In that regard this policy was not unique to the island alone.”

“If one were to truly examine Britain’s role one important aspect deserves special mention. That is the constitutional arrangement that Britain left behind. It left behind the Soulbury Constitution. Britain considered the Soulbury Constitution as having the necessary arrangements to provide for safeguards for minorities.”

“Britain thought that the rights of the Tamils in particular would be safeguarded by these arrangements. However history has proved otherwise that these safeguards were inadequate and not robust enough. I regret that Britain’s policies have to such an extent been the cause for the problems,” the High Commissioner said.

Asked about present British policy, the UK wanted the Sri Lankan government to engage the LTTE in negotiations, the High Commissioner said.

“There is an imperative not only for the Liberation Tigers but also the government of Sri Lanka to move forward to arriving at a negotiated settlement.”

“In the end, the final settlement that’s reached must be satisfactory to both parties. The present impasse must not be allowed to continue. The government of Sri Lanka and the Tigers must both dedicate themselves to peace. By some means, both parties must return to peaceful negotiations. There is no other way.”

Saying “there have to be changes to [Sri Lanka’s] political system,” as part of a solution to the conflict, the High Commissioner said: “although we cannot say much in this connection, Britain’s view is to move forward to a political settlement that’s based on the 2002 Oslo Declaration … on federal lines in a united Sri Lanka.”

Asked about the position of the United States, Mr. Silcott said: “the US has, from time to time, taken a contrary view from Britain in world affairs. However in Sri Lanka’s conflict, Britain has been in agreement with America.”

“It’s noteworthy that India is [also] fully in favour of a political settlement achieved through peaceful means,” he added later.

Given the present climate of international opposition to the use of violence to pursue political goals, the LTTE “could achieve more through negotiations than through violence,” Mr. Silcott said.

If the LTTE returned to the negotiating table then Britain could ask the EU to reconsider its proscription of the LTTE, the High Commissioner said.

Meanwhile, Britain’s proscription of the LTTE in 2001 was not an impediment to direct contact between the UK and the Tigers, Mr. Silcott said. British policy was that direct contact was necessary to move the LTTE towards peace.

Asked about the status of Mr. Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist who resides in London, the High Commissioner said: “Mr. Balasingham is a British Citizen. He has the right to live in Britain. Britain had banned the LTTE way back in 2001. It’s been five years since the ban was imposed. As such the ban does not affect Mr. Balasingham.”

“I do not think there would be any change in respect to Britain’s attitude to Anton Balasingham,” Mr. Silcott added. “Similarly, there would not be any significant change in this respect in view of the ban imposed by the EU.”

Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers are being unreasonable in demanding the exit of truce monitors from European Union nations which have banned them, and the observers will have to pull out unless their safety is guaranteed, a top Swedish envoy said last.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have given monitors from Nordic nations in the EU - Sweden, Denmark and Finland - until September 1 to leave Sri Lanka in light of a new EU ban against them, which analysts warn would leave a dangerous vacuum as growing violence kindles fears of renewed civil war.

The situation has changed after September 11

The Tigers insist 37 monitors from the three countries must leave, which would leave just 20 from Norway and Iceland - not enough to properly oversee a 2002 truce.

But it is not clear why Norway and Iceland cannot increase their contribution to the SLMM.

Even before the EU ban the Tigers had warned they would not be able to guarantee the safety of monitors who travel aboard navy ships, but it is not yet clear what will happen if the unarmed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) ignores their demand.

“If they can’t guarantee their safety, it means they cannot accept us, and then it’s not only the safety it is also the working conditions for the Swedish, Finnish and Danish members,” visiting Swedish Ambassador-at-Large Anders Oljelund told Reuters in an interview late on Friday.

“Then we will have to pull out,” he added. “If LTTE sticks to their decision to exclude three northern countries for these reasons from the mission, I think the work of the mission will be hampered and I think also the credibility of the mission will be reduced.”

The Tigers rejected Oljelund’s plea on Friday to reconsider their decision.

Tiger political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan told Reuters this month the LTTE would only review their position once the EU removes them from their list of terrorist organizations.

“I can understand the reaction of the Tigers. They perceive this (EU) decision as a ban of their whole organization. They don’t see that there is any balance,” Oljelund said on his return from a visit to the Tigers’ northern stronghold of Kilinochchi.

“But I think it is unreasonable still, because also the Tigers must little by little be able to look upon themselves (and see) this is a wider peace process in which the international community ... must be taken into consideration.”

“I think there is a possibility that they will change their mind ... (but) LTTE told us that their decision taken already is not going to be changed,” Oljelund said.

The monitors themselves say opinions range from withdrawing the mission to ignoring the LTTE demand and continuing work as normal - a dangerous option after close shaves during attacks.

“The situation has changed after September 11, the situation has changed after the Cold War, and if you can’t act politically and adapt yourself to new circumstances, (the Tigers’) credibility ... will be affected,” Oljelund said.

Many people fear escalating attacks and clashes between the military and the Tigers that have killed more than 700 people so far this year - more than half of them civilians - could reignite the war.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed serious concern at the lack of progress on the peace front in Colombo and called for the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people to be addressed urgently, the Sunday Leader reported this week. Meanwhile a Sri Lankan delegation has rushed to China on security-related matters, the paper added.

The Indian Prime Minister who met with the leader of Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe, in New Delhi last Thursday had also said war was not an option to solve the ethnic conflict.

A UNP delegation led by Wickremesinghe flew to Delhi last week to discuss its withdrawal from a bi-partisan arrangement between the UNP and the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) thrashed out by a senior Indian envoy earlier this month.

When he met the UNP delegation, the Indian Premier was accompanied by National Security Advisor, N. K. Narayanan, External Affairs Secretary Shyam Saran, High Commissioner Nirupama Rao and head of the Sri Lanka desk in Delhi, Mohan Kumar.

Wickremesinghe was accompanied for the meeting by MPs John Amaratunge, Milinda Moragoda and Dr. Valsan.

The Sunday Leader learnt the Indian Premier had also stressed the importance of the UNP and SLFP working together to achieve a solution based on devolution of power, which will meet the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people.

Wickremesinghe, it is learnt had informed the Indian Premier his party’s proposals were already on the table and he stands ready to discuss them with President Rajapakse at a bi-lateral level.

The UNP Leader said his party did not see any purpose in participating at the Representative Committee tasked with formulating a set of proposals since there was no consensus possible and in the absence of a clear government policy.

However, he said the UNP stands ready to have bi-lateral talks with the SLFP both at leadership and party levels to work on a viable solution and discuss the party’s proposals.

Meanwhile, as the UNP opposition went to Delhi, a government delegation rushed to China, the Sunday Leader reported adding, the latter “was almost a knee jerk reaction” to the former.

“A secret visit by the President’s Co-ordinating Secretary Sajin Vass Gunawardene to China last week in the company of some service personnel becomes significant, details of which of course cannot be divulged due to security considerations,” the paper said.

“Suffice it to say, five tickets were booked on a Singapore Airlines flight hurriedly in the morning to fly out the same evening [of the UNP’s visit to India].”

“That move alone underscores the approach of the government to the issues confronting the country,” the pro-UNP Sunday Leader’s political column added.

Violence in the Northeast should not be measured in numerical terms as it distorts the picture of what is happening there, the Parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan, told the Sunday Leader newspaper.

Asked to comment on India’s role, the TNA leader pointed out that India has grievances against both sides in the Sri Lanka conflict, but may still be willing to help resolve the Tamil question peacefully.

Responding to the reporter’s suggestion the Liberation Tigers are responsible for the weakening of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement, the TNA leader said “Violence should not be discussed in numerical terms as it distorts the picture.”

“Yet if this is the argument, then every civilian who has not been resettled would add to the CFA violations by the government and the numbers would far exceed those of the LTTE.”

“One could say the CFA is no longer there given the present situation. Of course, we want it resuscitated. It has broken down and there is low intensity war today.

“The unfortunate thing about security for the northeast Tamils is that armed forces are hostile to the people. There is little exception, but most look at civilians also as if they are enemies.

“The composition of the armed forces is such that they are 99% Sinhalese. There are an increased number of checkpoints, army camps and road barricades. The forces are more severe with ordinary Tamil civilians who are on combat traning. This is why they are fleeing the country at great risk.”

“The present composition of the forces needs to be changed to restore confidence amongst the Tamils that they are safe in their hands. Also, no credible investigations are held in connection with the human rights violations which show that the law enforcement mechanism is also not supportive. Those who feel unsafe have commenced fleeing.”

Asked to comment on recent comments by LTTE Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist Anton Balasingham, saying India should forget the past and take a greater diplomatic and political role in addressing Tamil grievances in Sri Lanka, Mr. Sampanthan said:

“The LTTE reached out to India much earlier when they suggested our neighbour at the talk’s venue. Next, the LTTE suggested India as an observer at the talks which clearly indicated the recognition of India’s role in settling the conflict.”

Asked to comment on India’s cautious approach to Sri Lanka, Mr. Sampanthan said: “India has all the reason to be an aggrieved party, and that too for more than one reason.”

“Gandhi’s assassination was absolutely tragic; The IPKF arrived in Sri Lanka at the invitation of the government. [But] the state [also] provided arms and vehicles to the LTTE to fight the IPKF.”

“A sailor at the ceremonial parade here [in Colombo] assaulted Premier Gandhi, during his visit to sign the Indo Lanka Peace Accord. He was given a jail term by a Sri Lankan president and pardoned also by a president.”

“Despite all the blunders committed by Sri Lanka, India may still be willing to lend a hand. India has tremendous love for Sri Lanka and we could benefit from her genuine affection in our decisive moment.”

Japan is seriously considering taking ‘tangible measures’ against the Tamil Tigers, IANS reported this week, widely interpreted as a proscription of the LTTE by Tokyo.

But before that, Japan’s special envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, will travel to the island to see if Colombo and the Tigers can return to the negotiating table, the Indian news agency said.

Akashi, 75, whose visit will take place in August, would very much like to meet the LTTE leader, Velupillai Pirapaharan, to know first hand what the latter’s thoughts are on the fractured peace process. Akashi could not meet the LTTE chief during his previous trip in May.

‘Yes, I would like to meet (Mr.) Pirapaharan,’ Akashi said in a 90-minute interview to IANS at his office in the heart of Tokyo. Describing the Tamil leader as a ‘man of conviction’ Akashi said: “Only he (Pirapaharan) can take the most difficult decisions.”

Asked about the likely meeting, Akashi said: ‘I would like to convey (to him) that the Japanese government is on the verge of some important decision as I have described to you.’

He added: ‘we are seriously considering tangible measures as some other governments have taken.”

He did not explain what the ‘important decision’ or ‘tangible measures’ would be, but it is widely interpreted as a proscription of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.

The European Union and Canada separately proscribed the LTTE as a terrorist group earlier this year.

“Before taking such a decision, I would like to make a trip to Sri Lanka to ascertain whether there is some hope for the parties to turn back from the abyss of a return to war and re-engage,” Akashi said.

Japan is one of the co-chairs to the peace process - along with Norway, the US and the European Union.

Japan was ‘deeply concerned and dismayed’ over Sri Lanka and wanted both the government and LTTE to pull back for the sake of the people, Akashi said.

While praising Norway for its achievement thus far, Akashi said Tokyo also wanted India to play a larger role to resurrect the peace process.

Akashi denied that the international donors conference Tokyo hosted in 2003 was meant to be a ‘peace trap’ for the Tamil Tigers. “Some kind of entrapment was far from our objective,” he said.

Asked by IANS what went wrong with the 2002 ceasefire that had showed so much promise, Akashi - speaking softly and choosing his words carefully - blamed it on the ‘deeply ingrained mutual distrust’ between the two sides for their inability to come to terms with one another despite decades of war.

Akashi also urged the LTTE to reverse its decision asking three of the five member countries of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Nordic body overseeing the truce, to quit the island. The LTTE’s complaint is that Denmark, Sweden and Finland can no more play a neutral role since they are part of the European Union that has outlawed the Tigers.

But Japan, he went on, had no intention of playing any supervisory role vis-a-vis the ceasefire without “a UN umbrella.”

As for the UN itself assuming a possible role in the Sri Lankan conflict, Akashi said that would depend on Colombo and the LTTE. Until then, such a question would be ‘entirely hypothetical’.

Sounding surprisingly hopeful despite the unending bloodshed, Akashi outlined a three-step approach to achieve peace in Sri Lanka.

Firstly, the 2002 ceasefire agreement would have to be strengthened ‘with a more credible SLMM’. And for that, ‘it will be very short sighted to weaken the (existing) SLMM’.

Secondly, a ‘comprehensive roadmap’ would have to be thought of to evolve a final solution ‘within a united or undivided Sri Lanka’, with necessary amendments to the country’s constitution, to usher in a new form of governance.

Thirdly, there will have to be ‘certain self rule’ in the LTTE controlled areas while taking steps ‘towards the final solution’.

The first suggestion, he insisted, would have to be acted upon immediately.

India and Japan, Akashi said, were on the same wavelength over Sri Lanka. He argued that the peace process would gain ‘added weight’ if New Delhi - which has had a long and torturous linkage with the ethnic conflict - associated itself more firmly with the co-chairs.

Echoing the growing international frustration vis-a-vis Sri Lanka, Akashi said: “I will not be honest if I said that I am totally satisfied. Yes, we have been disappointed with the pace of the peace process. Lately, we have been very unhappy with the most tragic acts of terrorism… Not all incidents can be attributed to the LTTE. But LTTE has committed more violations of the ceasefire than the government side.”

He also expressed dismay over ‘serious infractions on the government side’ and referred to the ‘acts of commissions or omissions by armed groups’ - a clear reference to the LTTE breakaway faction led by Karuna, the former Tiger regional commander whose men are believed to be in league with the Sri Lankan military.

‘While understanding why certain misgivings occur, I think both sides (Colombo and LTTE) have to overcome their doubts and see whether they themselves can rise up so that they can jointly improve the situation for a more peaceful and hopefully more prosperous common future.’

Despite efforts by the international community, especially India, to promote a bi-partisan consensus between Sri Lanka’s ruling party and the main opposition, President Mahinda Rajapaksa is instead hammering out an alliance with the ultra-Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), press reports say.

At the same time, the JVP has renewed its vehement opposition to the Norwegian peace process, demanding that the international monitoring mission overseeing Sri Lanka’s tenuous ceasefire be thrown out.

“There was no peace process, and there is no peace process. The SLMM (Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission) is virtually defunct. The SLMM should be thrown out of the country,” Somawansa Amarasinghe, the JVP leader, said.

“The LTTE is also not accepting its role,” he incorrectly claimed – the LTTE has asked for the withdrawal of monitors from Nordic countries within the European Union, following the 25-nation bloc’s proscription of the Tigers in May.

The JVP is to join Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition, after talks currently under way to formulate a Common Minimum Programme (CMP), are concluded, the Sunday Times reported this week.

According to The Morning Leader weekly, the JVP has put two conditions for joining the government: first, annul the 1988 merger of the Northern and Eastern province (a province with a majority of Tamil-speakers); second, disarm the LTTE before re-commencing talks with it.

The JVP was hopeful of obtaining its objectives, and towards this end, the talks with the President were being conducted in a "friendly manner", Amarasinghe was quoted as saying.

Press reports earlier this month had suggested the JVP had refused President Rajapaksa’s offer to join the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led government.

However the Sunday Times reported government and JVP leaders have already had three rounds of talks so far to work out areas that should be covered by the proposed CMP, the paper said. “It is expected to include a joint approach towards resolving the ethnic issue, dealing with the international community and tackling economic issues.”

President Rajapaksa led the government side during the three rounds of talks held at “Temple Trees” on July 14, 19 and 20, the paper said. The President made clear during the talks that the support and backing from the JVP, as a partner in the Government, “would go a long way in achieving the ideals his government stood for.”

“Among the key areas [discussed] were the joint approach to the ongoing ethnic conflict, related role by the international community including foreign lobbies, economic issues and how to deal with terrorism,” the paper’s political column further said.

Mr. Amarasinghe’s attack on the Norwegian peace process is in keeping with the pact the JVP signed with Mr. Rajapakse ahead of the Presidential elections last November, which he won with a wholly Sinhala vote boosted by the JVP’s grassroots campaigning.

The JVP leader said his party was presently engaged in a dialogue with the President to "reinvigorate and operationalise the Mahinda Chintanaya", referring to the title of Rajapakse’s election manifesto (“Mahinda’s thoughts”).

The JVP leader also said that the international community, including the Co-Chairs of the Tokyo donors'' conference – EU, United States Norway and Japan - were lecturing to Sri Lankans about how to run their country, and abridging Sri Lanka''s sovereignty in the process.

They were also equating the sovereign state of Sri Lanka with a terrorist group like the LTTE.

These were not acceptable positions, Amarasinghe said, singling out Japanese Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi, who visited the island last week for criticisim.

The Sri Lankan armed forces were fully capable of defeating the LTTE, the JVP leader said.

Amid persistent fears of a resurgence in Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict, the international community, especially India, has been pushing for a bipartisan approach to the conflict between the SLFP and the main opposition United National Party (UNP).

Two weeks ago, India’s Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran flew to Colombo and met with both Mr. Rajapakse and UNP leader Ranil Wickremsinghe.

However an initial agreement Mr. Saran thrashed out between the two leaders collapsed within two days when President Rajapakse persuaded another UNP lawmaker, the fourth this year, to cross over.

Analysts say the President killed two birds with one stone, continuing to weaken the UNP while escaping the Indian obligation when the outraged opposition unilaterally pulled out of the deal.

Accompanying President Rajapaksa during the talks with the JVP were SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena, Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premajayantha and Parliamentarian Dullas Allahapperuma.

The JVP team was headed by its leader, Amarasinghe and comprised General Secretary Tilvin Silva, Parliamentary Group leader Wimal Weerawansa and Anura Dissanayake.

JVP leader Amerasinghe made clear his party wanted to ensure that there was a clear cut programme of action agreed upon. Hence the move to agree on a Common Minimum Programme.

Mr. Amerasinghe wants to go public with such a CMP at a news conference soon after an accord is reached during talks with President Rajapaksa and other Government leaders.

Although the issue of cabinet portfolios to the JVP members has still not been discussed, The Sunday Times learns that President Rajapaksa may offer them four ministries.

A cabinet reshuffle that is to take effect after the Government and the JVP reaches accord on a CMP will see the emergence of a total of 36 ministries, according to highly-placed government sources, the paper said.

The next round of talks to reach finality on the CMP is to be held at Janadipathi Mandiraya. President Rajapaksa moved in there last Saturday. This was after a Buddhist pirith ceremony on Friday night followed by a dana.

Under intense international pressure, particularly from India, to come up with a viable proposal to end Sri Lanka’s festering ethnic conflict, President Mahinda Rajapakse this week inaugurated an elaborate mechanism comprising a new constitutional affairs committee and the long running all party conference.

In front of the assembled diplomatic corps in Colombo, President Rajapakse launched the ‘All Party Representative Committee on Constitutional Reforms’ and a panel of constitutional experts on Tuesday.

His speech, couched in pious musings about peace and compromise, was very different to the tub-thumping arrogance of his inaugural speech as President in December.

But the pomp and ceremony of Tuesday’s launch belie the serious political difficulties which beset his administration – difficulties, moreover, caused by his own political machinations – and cast serious doubt on the efficacy of his committee and conference.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) has withdrawn from an India-brokered bipartisan agreement to cooperate on resolving the ethnic question, accusing Rajapakse of trying to destroy it by trying to get its MPs to cross over to government ranks.

The UNP has now reportedly decided to support the peace ‘process’ but not the government – which means that the government cannot rely on the support of the UNP on any offer it makes the Tamils. (see page 4 also)

And the small but powerful ultra-nationalist Sinhala parties, the Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) and the Jeyathi Hela Urumaya (JHU), have sworn to oppose any changes to the unitary character of the Sri Lankan state.

Indeed, only last week the JVP stepped up its criticism of Rajapakse – for whose Presidential campaign it did more than his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – and demanded he take military action to defeat the LTTE (see page 4).

The main Tamil party in Sri Lanka, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), hasn’t even been asked to participate.

And the panel of experts is dominated by Sinhala hardliners – it is led by the ultra-nationalist ideologue, H. L. De Silva. There are Tamils and Muslims on the committee, but none with a credible history with their respective communities.

Most importantly perhaps is Rajapakse’s administration’s undisguised reluctance to truly share power, a sense that could not be kept out even of his speech Tuesday: “a solution to the national problem must exclude any division of the country.”

“Our objective must be to develop a just settlement within an undivided Sri Lanka,” he said.

The President argued that “the international community, notably India and the Co-Chairs have endorsed our approach” – though the latter – the United States, European Union, Japan and Norway – as well as the former are all agreed that federalism is the way forward for the island.

He blamed the LTTE for “imposing a war on the lives of the people of the Northeast.” – even though last week the number of Tamils who have fled to India seeking refuge from the Sri Lankan armed forces topped five thousand.

“The solution we offer should be one that offers an immediate resolution to the ones affected. It is not enough to keep people waiting in fear for an uncertain future,” he said, even though his much-vaunted All Party Conference (APC) has failed to produce any agreement despite months of deliberations – from which the TNA has been excluded.

In any case, the credibility of Rajapakse’s latest initiative is already weakened amid the UNP’s outrage, the absence of the TNA and the sniping of the JHU-JHU bloc.

Mr. Rajapakse’s persistent efforts since becoming President in November 2005 to tempt opposition lawmakers to government benches has been a constant point of exasperation for the main opposition UNP.

The UNP’s irritation is heightened by its sure knowledge that, had the Liberation Tigers not called for a boycott amongst Tamils, the opposition leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe would have become President.

In a bid to knock the Sinhala leaders’ heads together and produce a bipartisan consensus on producing a viable proposal to put before the Tamils, India last week despatched a senior official to Colombo.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran met with both Mr. Rajapakse and Mr. Wickremsinghe and, having secured, the necessary comittment, returned to Delhi. But within two days, the deal collapsed: Rajapakse tempted a UNP parliamentarian over with the promise of a deputy ministership.

The outraged UNP promptly suspended cooperation with the President and the SLFP.

Startled, President Rajapakse, is reported to have decided to refrain from welcoming UNP Parliamentarians into the government’s fold - “for the time being.”

Some reports said that in an unprecedented request, UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe has reportedly asked India to help him stop MPs crossing over to the government.

Colombo news agencies reported that the UNP leader made a request to Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao to convey a message to President Mahinda Rajapaksa as early as possible.

Ms. Rao, a close diplomatic friend of the President, had reportedly refused the request since she “has nothing to do with the internal politics of Sri Lanka.”

The Island newspaper reported that the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem would and try to bring a settlement between the SLFP-led coalition government and UNP-led Opposition.

The SLMC had backed the UNP leader at last November’s polls. The largest Muslim party has since been in negotiations with Rajapakse, but its main rival, the National Unity Alliance (NUA) is already safely ensconced in the SLFP-led coalition.

Meanwhile the developments on the ground which have taken Sri Lanka to the brink of war – from which the past two weeks have seen both the government and the LTTE pull slightly back – could render the entire exercise irrelevant: Rajapakse’s military is continuing its shadow war against the Tigers and the latter are striking back.

Speaking to the assembled diplomats, President Rajapakse was at pains to protest his innocence in the shadow war: “our attempts at bringing the LTTE to the negotiating table continues, we have a responsibility to address the national question” he intoned.

“The issue we are dealing with is of the gravest importance,” he said.

The UNP, for one, would question his sincerity, particularly since Rajapakse has reportedly begun telling close advisors that, having secured six years in power, it was time to prepare the ground to get a second term.

The Sri Lankan government has decided to allow India and China to explore for oil along its coast, news reports said Saturday.

India and China will be allowed to explore two of the six blocks identified for oil exploration off the island nation’s northwest coast, the state-run Daily News quoted Petroleum Resources Development Minister AHM Fowzie as saying.

“The proposal received Cabinet approval this week. We will shortly call tenders for exploring the four remaining blocks,” Fowzie said.

Sri Lanka, which now imports all of its oil and gas, might be able to produce oil within three years if exploration efforts were successful, according to the Petroleum Resources Development Ministry, which was established in 2005 to help facilitate the country’s oil and gas exploration efforts.

The Gulf of Mannar, between the southern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka, has been identified for the first phase of oil exploration, which is likely to begin in August 2007, the news report said.

Fowzie said many countries engaged in the oil trade, including giants Saudi Arabia and Iran, have been told about opportunities in Sri Lanka and have provided technical assistance and expertise for local oil exploration.

In October last year, a Norwegian seismic survey company, after completing a second phase of studies, said there may be oil and natural gas reserves off the west coast of Sri Lanka. An earlier survey had showed the possibility of small hydrocarbon reserves in the northwest Gulf of Mannar.

From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, overseas companies had explored areas off Sri Lanka’s coast, but failed to find any oil or gas reserves.

Outgoing US Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead last week urged the Sri Lankan government to address legitimate Tamil grievances and ensure its armed forces conduct themselves better, even if provoked.

In his address to commemorate the 230th anniversary of United States’ Declaration of Independence from England, Lunstead emphasized on June 4 that there was no military solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem.

“The Tigers must renounce terrorism and violence and enter the political path,” he said.

“A solution will require radical changes in the way the entire nation is governed-changes which will empower all the people of Sri Lanka: Sinhalse, Tamils, Muslims and others, and give them a greater say in how they are governed in areas where they live.

“I am leaving now after three years in Sri Lanka-years filled with wonderful memories of a beautiful island and beautiful people.

“I have to confess, however, that I leave with some disappointment. When I arrived three years ago, there was a tremendous sense of hope and optimism in the country. The ceasefire and the rounds of peace talks had given hope that the island’s ethnic issue would be resolved and that the entire country would move towards a peaceful resolution.”

“ No one expected that this would be easy, or that it would be accomplished quickly. But most people hoped there would be steady progress.”

“The hope has been largely belied. Peace taalks have not resumed, the ceasefire is under constant pressure. Violence has increased. Barricades which had been dismantled are once again being thrown up.”

“And not just physical barricades, but also the barricades which divide one citizen from another, as fear and mistrust grow.”

Sri Lanka, the Ambassador said, was going through “trying times, struggling to define itself and its system of government, struggling to decide how its citizens will relate to each other - indeed struggling to define what it means to be Sri Lankan.”

Giving America’s prescription for an ailing Sri Lanka, the Ambassador said:

1. There is no military solution to the ethnic problem.

2. The LTTE must renounce terrorism and violence and enter the political path.

3. The government of Sri Lanka must work to address the legitimate Tamil grievances and ensure that the conduct of its security forces is impeccable even in the face of severe provocation.

4. A solution will require radical changes in the way the entire nation is governed - changes which will empower all the people of Sri Lanka: Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others, and to give them a greater say in how they are governed in the areas in which they live.

Several international media watchdogs warned last week that free expression conditions in Sri Lanka appear to be deteriorating amidst escalating violence in the country, which claimed the life of another journalist on 2 July 2006.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead freelance journalist Sampath Lakmal de Silva after abducting him from his parents’ home in Borallasgamuwa.

De Silva, who wrote on defence matters, including corruption in the armed forces, was the first Sinhala journalist killed in Sri Lanka in eight years.

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said it was “crucial” that the circumstances of Mr. Lakmal de Silva’s abduction and murder be elucidated without delay and the perpetrators brought to justice. “Democracy is truly in great danger when crimes against journalists go unpunished,” he declared.

Since 2001, every journalist killed in Sri Lanka (except de Silva) has been a Tamil, says FMM. Most of which have been targeted after criticising Army-backed paramilitaries.

The Free Media Movement (FMM), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) expressed concerns last week, shortly after FMM slammed the introduction of censorship by proxy two weeks ago.

De Silva had recently written reports that embarrassed elements of the security forces, according to FMM. He was the former defence correspondent for the Sinhala-language newspaper “Isathdina Weekly”.

De Silva’s murder occurred right after the conclusion of an IFJ mission to Sri Lanka from 25-30 June, where the international group met with its local affiliates to discuss the situation facing journalists.

According to IFJ, six media workers have now been killed in Sri Lanka since January 2005. None of the crimes have been either investigated or solved. The murdered journalists include Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan, Relangi Sevaraja, Dharmeratnam Sivaram, Suresh Kumar and Ranjith Kumar.

FMM says the first six months of this year have been marked by the increased harassment of journalists, media outlets and human rights activists by ultra-nationalist groups and government forces. Those who support a negotiated settlement of the conflict are labeled as “traitors” and supporters of the Tamil Tigers.

FMM notes that Tamil journalists face particular challenges in reporting the news. The majority of attacks have been against Tamil journalists and Tamil-language outlets.

Reporters Without Borders voiced fears last month, after pro-government media made threats against five Sri Lankan journalists who had met a Tamil Tiger leader.

“The recent closure of some satellite services by the government and a decision to bring back a state media regulatory body, as well as the continued accusations by members of government and the media against Tamil journalists and their supposed sympathisers are all worrying indications that press freedom in Sri Lanka is heading in a backwards direction,” IFJ President Christopher Warren said on June 30.

The Sri Lankan Government has announced that Tamils living in Colombo city and suburbs, and in the hill country are required to register with the Police station nearest to their residences.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Pujitha Jeyasundera, detailed the procedures to be followed by Tamil residents in fulfilling this new requirement at a press conference held on June 30 in Colombo district Administrative Secretariat.

Regional Assistant IGPs, Officers in Charge of Police, District Secretaries, Officials of the President’s Office and Colombo District Government Agent, Mr Silva, participated in the conference.

Details related to owners of residences, rented occupants, and boarders in the residence will be required to be entered in the registration forms.

Visitors from other districts staying with relatives, and temporary occupants of boarding houses are also expected to register, Mr Jeyasundera said.

Business establishments, public and private, are also expected to register details of Tamil workers.

The new procedures are being implemented to strengthen security in Colombo and to prevent attacks by cadres of Liberation Tigers, Mr Jeyasundera said.

Registration forms prepared by the Sri Lanka President’s office are to be distributed by the Police assisted by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) cadres to homes. Occupants are expected to complete the registration forms in front of the attending security personnel, the Deputy IGP said.

Sri Lanka’s police, like other security forces, are overwhelmingly Sinhala.

During the times of conflict Tamil areas in Colombo and the south have been subject to cordon and search operations, resulting in mass detentions and, frequently, disappearances. Many Tamils are released after paying demanded bribes.

Shortly after the Sinhala nationalist President Mahinda Rajapakse came into power last November, security measures targetting Tamils in the south were stepped up, amid escalating violence in the north and east.

On New Year’s eve last year, the mass arrests of Tamils, a practice which was stopped when the pro-peace UNF government came into power in 2002, was reintroduced.

That night, police and troops arrested 920 Tamils, including 105 Tamil women, in a joint cordon and search operation in Colombo.

The arrested were taken in busses to 8 different police stations and were being photographed, finger-printed and videoed by the Sri Lankan Intelligence agencies.

The search operation was conducted in Tamil residential areas in Wellawatte, Bambalapitiya, Maradana, Kotahena, Grandpass and Mutuwal. Fifty three Tamils were detained after identity-registration in the operation, tellingly codenamed “Strangers Night III.”

The ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna last week indicated its willingness to join the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s minority government once he ‘proves himself’ by taking action to militarily defeat the Tamil Tigers.

“We have been receiving invitations by the President on numerous occasions to join the government. However, we had our reservations. We believe the best invitation is proving himself through actions,” JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said in the special convention held at the Town Hall grounds in Colombo last Wednesday.

He also noted that there are more than enough reasons to support the government especially given the country’s volatile security situation.

But, Mr. Amarasinghe added that the President has to first clearly identify what terrorism is, if he is to defeat it.

“Fundamental of a war is attacking and defending. One cannot shield oneself by shielding forever without fighting back. Likewise, terrorism cannot be defeated only by defending ourselves,” Mr. Amarasinghe said while noting that the government should give up on false protection.

“It’s high time that government shifted to military attacks.”

Mr. Amarasinghe also added the most foolish thing is President Rajapaske’s government not moving to ban the LTTE again.

“We also believe that government should not go for negotiations until the LTTE disarm themselves, especially when they have recently issued a statement indicating that they are not willing for a negotiated solution,” he added.

“It is his responsibility as the leader of the country to protect the country as well as its people.”

Citing that all national and international forces supporting the LTTE are trying their best to pave the way for a separate state of Eelam, Mr. Amarasinghe noted that they have doubts about the report categorising Sri Lanka as a failed state issued by Front for Peace, a NGO in USA.

“We have to protect the President at this moment, because if anything happens to him by any chance we would definitely become a failed state without a ruler. No matter how hard these evil forces try to challenge the sovereignty of this country we would never let the country suffer. Nor would we let the UNP to come into power,” he noted.

“UNP which is also belonging to the national force operating in favour of the LTTE can day dream forever of obtaining the crown,” he said.

Hundreds of JVP members gathered at the convention unanimously agreed to the five proposals submitted including to accept the national problem as an internal problem and not to let so called international forces to intervene in internal matters and to fight against any force threatening the sovereignty of the country.(Daily Mirror)

A fresh attempt to hammer out a bipartisan Sinhala approach to Sri Lanka’s drawn out the ethnic conflict ended abruptly with the defection of an opposition legislator to the government.

Following renewed pressure from India, President Mahinda Rajapakse met with United National Party (UNP) opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe last week to agree on a common approach to the festering conflict, but the initiative failed.

“The opposition leader did not know that even as they met, the government had secured the defection of one of his MPs,” UNP parliament Joseph Perera said. “So how can we work like this?”

“We cannot accept this double dealing and we cannot support the government anymore.”

Minutes before the meeting, Rajapakse gave a minister post to UNP legislator Susantha Punchinilame who had defected to the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Analysts say a settlement with the Tamil Tigers to end the decades old ethnic conflict requires an amendment to the constitution and that would mean bipartisan support for the two thirds majority needed in parliament.

The failed effort came as Sri Lanka’s political parties were under pressure from the island’s foreign backers to end the searatist conflict.

The meeting between Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe came a day after outgoing US Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead said that a solution to civil strife would require “radical changes in the way the entire nation is governed.”

Last week a top Indian offical flew to Colombo to press President Rajapakse and Mr. Wickremesinghe to cooperate towards shaping a powersharing proposal.

India’s External Affairs Ministry Secretary Shyam Saran came on Monday with a message from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to both men, press reports said.

Mr. Saran said India supported a negotiated political settlement to the conflict. India’s concerns with regard to Tamil civilians and their right to life was also expressed, reports said.

However, 24 hours after Mr. Saran left, the President moved instead to woo more UNP MPs to his benches to bolster his parliamentary majority, even though the UNP had warned him any such attempt to lure crossovers at a time they were meant to be cooperating with him to arrive at a solution to the ethnic crisis would irredeemably damage their relationship.

After the poaching of another UNP MP on Thursday, the fourth this year, the UNP has now informed India that “there is a complete breakdown of trust between it and the government and it will not be possible to work with President Rajapakse on the peace process,” a pro-UNP broadsheet said Sunday.

The UNP thinking was communicated to both the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Nirupama Rao and New Delhi on Friday, The Sunday Leader said.

President Rajapaksa has called an all-party meeting for Tuesday to work out devolution proposals but with the UNP now boycotting the meeting and Rajapakse’s Sinhala nationalist allies scoffing at it, question marks have arisen over the exercise, the Sunday Times said.

A representative of each political party taking part in the long running, but utterly inconclusive All-Party Conference has been invited together with a 15-member multi-ethnic advisory board for the inaugural meeting chaired by President Rajapaksa on Tuesday.

However, without the support of the UNP and the ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP), the proposals are not going to pass parliament, unless they are very weak– in which case it will be rejected by the Tamils.

Mr. Saran had told President Rajapakse devolving powers to the Tamils was key if Sri Lanka was to raise its head from the spectre of war. To this end, Mr. Saran had offered India’s constitutional expertise.

In a villa surrounded by tall jak fruit trees and a squad of cadres toting T-56 assault rifles, S.P. Tamilselvan, the political leader of the Tamil Tiger guerrillas, sits pondering the political missteps of Stephen Harper’s rookie government in Canada.

“We know the complexity of the political problems any party would normally come across during a period of transition or a change from one party to another,” he says.

Tamilselvan says he’s been searching for a plausible reason Harper’s government ignored Canada’s 200,000-strong Tamil community and placed their “freedom-fighting organization” alongside Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah on a list of criminal terrorist groups.

Canada used to be well-respected here in Kilinochchi. It was known as a haven for thousands of Tamil refugees fleeing persecution by the Sinhalese-dominated government during a civil war that raged in the 1980s and ‘90s, leaving 64,000 people dead.

But since Ottawa’s decision in April, Canada is now thought of as a country that turned its back.

In the first Canadian interview he’s given since Ottawa’s decision, Tamilselvan says he suspects Harper is playing a cheap game to score political points early in his minority mandate.

“These are things quite understandable in politics,” he says. “But politics and freedom struggles are two different things. Politics has machinations.”

Recent decisions by Canada, the European Union and the United States to list the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organization could have great bearing on the tattered peace process in Sri Lanka, especially as the nation appears poised to return to all-out civil war at any time. Since April, more than 700 people have been killed in escalating violence.

There is reason enough, Ottawa argues, to add the Tigers to the Criminal Code’s list of terrorist groups, making membership and participation in its operations illegal. (Fundraising for the Tamil Tigers has been illegal in Canada since 2001, when the government adopted a set of United Nations anti-terror funding regulations.)

“The decision to list the LTTE is long overdue and something the previous government did not take seriously enough to act upon,” Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said in April. “Our government is clearly determined to take decisive steps to ensure the safety of Canadians against terrorism.”

But the implications of listing the Tigers as a terrorist group means Canada can no longer participate as an effective broker in the peace process, Tamilselvan says. Ottawa has clearly chosen to side with the Sri Lankan government and against the Tigers.

“The extremist elements in the south always get encouraged when somebody outside gives them a pat on the shoulders that they’re doing a good job and that the LTTE is a terrorist organization,” he says.

The result is that the government has “accelerated the pace of violence let loose on the Tamil people.”

“This ban,” he adds, “has only helped the extremist elements to fan the flame of communalism and racism.”

Some observers worry Tamilselvan may be correct, saying that the Sri Lankan government has become more brazen in its acts of violence since the international community appears to have endorsed its position.

“It also gives an opportunity for the government to try to use the war on terror to engage in violence. There’s a danger in that as well. It kind of releases pressure on the government in that it can feel like it has the right, in a way, to do certain things,” says Mirak Raheem, a peace and conflict researcher at Colombo’s Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Some also worry that, by effectively alienating the Tamil Tigers, Canada has thrown away any leverage it once had to influence the group.

“They have nothing much to lose when they attack, because they have lost the international recognition they were aiming for and I don’t see a lot of things that could prevent them from going on with those attacks,” says a Western diplomat in Colombo. “There are no incentives we can really offer them.”

Tamilselvan’s parting plea to Harper is to “address the issue justly and reasonably” and reconsider.

“We have under no circumstances engaged ourselves in any acts of, call it terrorism or violence or whatever, in any other nation,” he said. “All our acts are intended to drive the enemy away from our homeland. This does not, in any way, impact life in Canada.”

(Edited)

Andrew Mills is a Canadian freelance journalist