Red Cross representatives paid homage to S. Shanmuganathan and K. Chandramohan, two Red Cross workers whose bodies were found a day after they were abducted in Colombo by Sinhalese speaking armed men who claimed to be policemen. Photo TamilNet

Gunmen claiming to be police have abducted and shot dead two Tamil Red Cross employees in Sri Lanka, barely a week after the country pledged greater security for aid workers.

The deaths are the worst attack against aid workers here since the massacre of 17 French charity workers last August.

The Geneva-based charity said the bullet-riddled bodies of Sinnarajah Shanmugalingam, 38, and Karthigesu Chandramohan, 28, were discovered late Saturday in the central town of Ratnapura, hours after they were abducted from the main railway station in Colombo.

"The two were part of a group of six aid workers brought from Batticaloa (in the island's east) for a training programme related to tsunami relief work last week," Sri Lanka Red Cross director general Neville Nanayakkara told AFP.

"Some people in civil clothes said they were from the police and wanted to see the identity cards of the six workers," Nanayakkara said. "They took away two of them saying it was for further questioning."

He said they were alerted to the bodies found in Ratnapura after a local television channel on Saturday night showed images of unidentified victims found in the area.

Nanayakkara said he had informed the island's defence secretary and police chief about the missing aid workers early Saturday, but there was no response.

The defence ministry said people who "claimed to be from the (police) Criminal Investigations Department," had abducted the aid workers in a white van and added that police were investigating.

Separately, the head of the Sri Lanka Red Cross in Batticaloa, Mr Vasantharajah, told the media that after completing the training program on Thursday and Friday, the group had gone to the Fort Railway station to take the train to Batticaloa.

A group of Sinhala speaking men had examined their Identity cards and taken Shanmuganathan and Chandramohan in a white van for "questioning," according to the other four members of the group.

The leader of the aid workers had told the men that the two did not know Sinhala volunteered to help with the questioning, but the men declined the offer.

Shanmuganathan joined the Red Cross in 1997, is from Vilavettan, Vavunatheevu, while Chandramohan, from Kaluwankerni, had been with the Red Cross from 1999.

The Officer in Charge of Kiriella Police, Mr Vijetunge told the media that the bodies will be transferred to the Colombo Red Cross headquarters after post mortem examinations.

The killings came on the same day that President Mahinda Rajapakse met with relatives of more than 100 people who had gone missing in recent months.

Rajapakse told relatives that 90 percent of the cases reported as abductions and disappearances were linked to domestic disputes, his office said in a statement before the killings of the Red Cross workers were reported.

"He explained that neither the government nor the security forces had any necessity to carry on illegal acts of abduction and that the government always acted in keeping with the law," the statement said.

The deaths in August of the local workers for the French charity Action Against Hunger in the northeastern town of Muttur were blamed by Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on the military, a charge denied by defence authorities.

The case is now being investigated by a special presidential commission under international supervision, but international observers have said the inquiry is flawed and criticised delays that have resulted in the inquiry stalling.

The Liberation Tigers destroyed Sri Lanka Army, leaving 82 combatants dead according to both sides last Sunday as the island's main aid donor, Japan, was set to launch a fresh peace bid.

The LTTE said they launched commando attacks along a broad front in Vavuniya and Mannar districts.

LTTE cadres at a mortar position they destroyed as they overran SLA bases in Vavuniya Photo LTTE

They captured armoured vehicles and heavy weapons after destroying long-range guns belonging to the military. They also said they destroyed seven gun positions.

The Tigers also released pictures of a Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier and bases they captured. Heavy weapons such as medium machine guns, AK-LMGs, 40 mm grenade launchers and 60 mm mortars were among the weapons seized by the Tigers.

The Tigers said they killed at least 30 security personnel in a five-hour battle to capture several gun positions and military detachments. They also said they had recovered 16 bodies by last Sunday evening.

They also admitted to loosing 18 LTTE cadres in the action.

Military sources in Vavuniya told TamilNet at least 20 SLA troopers were killed, 40 wounded, an ammunition dump destroyed in Pampaimadu, and that the Tigers seized a big haul of weapons in their raid.

The Defence Ministry said heavy fighting raged in the area, but claimed that the military had beaten back a LTTE offensive by killing at least 52 Tiger cadres. Officials also admitted to 35 soldiers being injured.

Tiger spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said that the LTTE had established a forward defence line in areas previously held by the military following the commando-style attack which began Saturday night.

"The LTTE troops are consolidating their positions in the recaptured area," Ilanthiriyan said in a statement. He said a military artillery unit was also "completely destroyed."

Sporadic artillery exchanges continued in Vavuniya district, which borders LTTE territory, both sides said Sunday. Residents and officials said they had heard heavy shelling since Saturday night.

3 June

● The LTTE destroyed a SLA artillery launch pad and seized military hardware, including a Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier, as they attacked the SLA FDL along the Mannar-Vavuniya border (see separate story).

● The LTTE counter-ambushed a SLA DPU inside their territory in Palamodai on the Vavuniya Mannar border. The DPU unit suffered casualties and withdrew leaving behind a dead body, four claymore mines and a T-56 rifle.

● The SLA and police conducted search operations covering Grandpass, Fort and Maradana areas in Colombo city, Western Deputy Inspector General of Police Rohan Abeyawardene said. Private houses where persons from north and east provinces and upcountry are staying were subjected to careful search.

● The bodies of two Tamil Red Cross workers from Batticaloa, who had gone to Colombo for a training program were abducted Friday by men claiming to be Sri Lanka Police, were found in Ratnapura (see separate story).

● The SLA fired artillery from the bases in Palali, Vadamaradchi and Thenmaradchi into LTTE controlled territory. Several populated civilian areas shook due to the heavy fire.

● Fishermen from Valvettithurai to Point Pedro along the northern coastal areas of Jaffna Peninsula were barred by the SLA from going out fishing. Fishermen who set out to fish in the morning were asked to return home.

● Subramaniam Santheepan, 30, a postmaster and a father of two, was shot dead in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, by armed men who followed him on a motorbike. Santheepan, from Mirusuvil North, was riding his motorbike with his wife and two children when he was shot.

2 June

● The SLA withdrew from a fresh ground operation towards Kudumpimalai (Thoppigala) when the LTTE put up stiff resistance amid two aerial bombardments by the SLAF, LTTE military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said. The SLA troopers were moving out of Mavadiyodai Bridge, on the route linking Badulla Road with Kudumpimalai jungle. Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo claimed that they had attacked two LTTE camps, but the Tigers said their positions were intact.

● The LTTE and SLA fought heavy artillery duels along the Thenmaradchi FDL in Muhamalai, but neither the SLA nor the LTTE officially released information on casualties or injuries. However, reports said SLAF helicopters flew at least three trips transporting dead and injured soldiers to Palali military base. The intense artillery exchange occurred amidst wide speculation that a large scale war is about to break out at along the northern FDL.

● Anti-aircraft guns were installed in police stations and major security detachments in Mannar, Talaimannar and Murunkan. Trained operators were also posted to the stations and detachments. Colombo instructed the police stations and security detachments to be on red alert against possible air strikes by the LTTE air wing.

● More than sixty Tamils were arrested during a search operation by the police in Mt Lavinia, Ratmalana, Wellawatte, Bambalapitiya, Mattakuliya, Kirilapone and Kohuwela areas of Colombo. SSP for Colombo Central region, Ajith Fonseka, said twelve special branch police groups participated in the search and most of the arrested were from the northeast and Hill country areas. Those who proved their identity and provided satisfactory reasons for their stay in the location were released after preliminary inquiry.

● Seven Tamil civilians were arrested in Uddapu, Chilaw, in SLA search operation.

● The police recovered bodies of four unidentified persons in the south of Sri Lanka. Two bodies were recovered at Wellawaya in Sabragamuwa, one body at Walakande in Matale, and the fourth at Madawachchi. The body recovered at Walakande was found with severe head and body injuries caused by very sharp instruments, while the other three bodies were found with gunshot injuries.

1 June

● The SLA and police arrested 12 Tamil civilians during a search operation in Wattala. The majority of the arrested are natives of the north east. Police said they were taken into custody when they failed to prove their identity by producing national identity cards and other legal documents.

● Attackers shot and killed a SLA soldier and a homeguard who were riding a motorbike in Thiruvegama, Kebitigollawa, which is south east of Vavuniya.

● An accidental bomb explosion killed three STF troopers in Thampaddai, Akkaraipattu, Amparai.

● Businesses and banks in Kaluvanchikudi, Batticaloa, shut down protesting against robberies at twelve business centres within three days. Armed men broke into the businesses and robbed jewels, goods and money during three consecutive nights.

31 May

● DNA testing confirmed that a mutilated torso found in the Pungkudutheevu sea on March 14, packed in a military sand bag, belonged to the disappeared Catholic priest Rev. Fr. Jim Brown. Earlier a medical legal officer confirmed that blood samples from Fr. Brown's parents and the torso had been sent to a Colombo hospital. Rev.Fr. Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown, 34, parish priest of Allaippiddi and his aide Wenceslaus Vincent Vimalan, 38, disappeared on August 20, 2006, after being interrogated by SLA soldiers at Mandaitheevu checkpoint.

● The owners of lodges in Colombo were ordered to send Tamils staying at lodges back to their native places in the north and east (see separate story).

● A Tamil civilian from Vavuniya, arrested in Colombo on May 24, was released after the prosecutors admitted there was no evidence against him. Kollupitiya police arrested Emmanuel Nesarajah, 39, a father of two and a carpenter, while he was walking along a road near the Presidential House. He told the police he had gone to Colombo in search of employment.

● Armed men lobbed hand grenades at SLA troopers and Karuna Group members jointly engaged in a cordon and search in Valaichenai, Batticaloa, injuring two troopers. The SLA troopers killed a youth, identified as Mahendran Gajendran, 27, when they returned fire. The SLA claimed the youth was a LTTE member and that a T56 rifle was recovered from him.

● A combined SLA and police search operation in Battaramulla, Talangama, resulted in the arrest of twelve Tamil civilians who were taken into custody as they failed to provide satisfactory reason for their stay in the location.

● Six people were killed when two three-wheelers transporting paramilitary Karuna Group personnel from Amparai to Poththuvil were ambushed at Inspector Eattam in Poththuvil. The attack took place in the wake of internal strife within the Karuna Group, and after 8 personnel of the breakaway Pillayan Group reportedly went missing in Polonnaruwa, allegedly at the hands of Karuna cadres.

30 May

● Tiran Alles, publisher of the Sinhala weekly Mawbima, was arrested by the TID, taken into custody from a private hospital in Colombo. Mr. Alles had been Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority when Mangala Samaraweera was the Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation. Formerly a strong ally of President Mahinda Rajapakse, he became a political enemy following the dispute between the President and former Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi.

● An abandoned auto rickshaw with a suspicious parcel inside, found close to a Buddhist Shrine in the Fort area, Colombo, caused panic during the evening peak traffic time. SLA soldiers and policemen rushed to the site blocking traffic, but the bomb disposal squad discovered a number of bricks inside.

● Twenty Tamils were arrested in a cordon and search operation in Ratmalana and Mt. Lavinia areas of Colombo.

● The SLA and police arrested ten Tamil civilians in a cordon and search operation in Tissamaharagama, in Matara. The police said they were taken into custody as they failed to prove their identity and the cause for their stay in the location.

● A civilian, identified as Balasubramaniam, was killed in Iyakkachchi, north of the Elephant Pass, as the SLA intensified artillery shelling, hitting the houses in the village.

● More than one thousand SLA troopers and police officers launched an intensive cordon and search operation in Jaffna, covering Koddadi and Navanthurai coastal areas.

● The LTTE said they confronted a contingent of SLA troopers who attempted to advance through the LTTE defence line in Madu. The SLA suffered casualties and fled the battleground carrying their own casualties, Irasiah Ilanthirayan, the military spokesman of the Tigers told media. Sri Lanka military spokesman in Colombo, Brigadier Samarasinghe, told the press that five SLA troopers were killed in action in Madu. There were no LTTE casualties, according to the Tiger spokesman.

● Three SLAF bombers targeted a civilian area in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaiththeevu, for a second day, injuring a 7-year-old girl named Nilaxana.

● Uyilangkulam checkpoint, gateway to LTTE controlled territory from Mannar, was reopened after a one-week closure, and a large number of civilians travelled across the divide soon after the opening. Farmers and fishermen transported their produce from LTTE held territory to Mannaar town. The SLA said the Uyilangkulam checkpoint will be opened on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only.

29 May

● The SLA and police conducted cordon and search operations in several parts of Colombo following a claymore attack the previous evening targeting a bus carrying STF personnel from Ratmalana in which eight were killed and 35 injured. Kotahena, Borella, Wellawatte, Bambalapitiya, Mount Lavinia, and Pettah areas were subjected to the search. Four suspects were taken to Ratmalana Police station for further interrogation.

● One person was killed and two injured when two SLAF fast attack crafts bombed Puthukudiyiruppu in Mullaiththeevu twice. Meyyaappillai Alaku, 56, a mother of three from from Chinna Chalampan, Oddusudan, was killed and I. Irasiah, 50 and Neelakandan Jegatheeswari, 26, from Karainagar, Jaffna, were injured. The attack targeted a civilian area and resulted in damage to 12 houses, while children from a school 75 meters from the attack site narrowly escaped.

● The president of the Kalmunai Auto Drivers' Union was shot by gunmen on a motorcycle. Two men used a T56 rifle to kill Illayathamby Shanthakumar, 40, a father of two, at a shop close to his house in Kalmunai, Amparai. Shanthakumar had previously had acrimonious exchanges Karuna Group members on union related issues, and locals speculate that this had a bearing on the killing. Athambawa Jabar, 38, who was nearby at the time of the shooting, sustained serious injuries.

● Brigadier Smarasinghe claimed that nine LTTE fighters were killed in a confrontation in Manal Aru (Weli Oya).

● Gunmen abducted Mylvaganam Vigneswaran, 20, and Kunasekaran, 32, both from Karupola village in Aaraiyampathi east, Kathankudi, Batticaloa. A Karuna Group office is near the Aaraimpathi STF camp, and Karuna Group members allegedly ride the motorcycles through Karupola regularly.

● Armed men opened fire on troopers at the Madduvil SLA camp in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna, killing two. The exchange of fire lasted nearly ten minutes and the SLA arrested a 14-year-old boy during a search soon after the fire fight.

● Two youths arrested by the SLA on charges of possessing claymore mines were produced before the courts in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, where they maintained that they were innocent and that the SLA had planted the mines to incriminate them. Kumaru Thayananthan, 18, of Varani, Thenmaradchi, and Arumugam Kamlatheepan, 19, of Manthuvil, Thenmaradchi had been arrested the previous day.

● The relatives of three fishermen from Analaitheevu Island reported at the Jaffna office of the SLHRC that the men have not returned after going fishing on May 17. Jeganathan Jeyanthan, 24,Velautham Thevan, 30, and Thangarasa Jegan, 22, allegedly left for fishing in a catamaran and since there was heavy rain and strong winds on that day, relatives expressed fear that the men may have encountered trouble with their boats.

28 May

● Armed men in a white van took Mahendran Matheeskumar, 25, from his house in Mattakuliya, Colombo. The men first questioned Matheeskumar, who was outside his house speaking on his mobile phone. Then they took him away, saying he will be released after interrogation, his mother complained to the Civil Monitoring Committee, a Colombo-based human rights watchdog.

● A bomb exploded in Ratmalana near the domestic airport, targeting a military vehicle carrying STF troopers. Eight were injured and 35 injured in the blast which targeted a vehicle carrying STF troopers traveling from Katukurunte training base to Kadawatte STF camp.

● SLA soldiers on security duty along the A9 highway in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna, between Kodikamam and Chavakachcheri, were attacked by armed men. Local residents said they saw injured troopers being taken in military ambulances.

● Three civilians were killed in a bomb explosion near the well in a house compound at Poonthodam in Vavuniya. One body was found inside the well and the other 50 meters from the well. The third victim succumbed to his wounds while being rushed to:niyaa hospital. Kumarasamy Sureshkumar, 32, a father of two children, Chandran Thanushan, 26 and Satheeskumar were the men killed.

● A Tamil youth, Weeramalai Jegan, 29, was found dead in his paddy field at Kattaikadu, Munthal, Chilaw.

A Tamil woman pleaded with President Mahinda Rajapakse (not in photo) to find her loved one when the President met last Saturday with over 100 relatives of people who had gone missing in recent months to discuss their plight. Extra judicial killings and abductions continued on the island, amid allegations of involvement by government forces and poilcemen. Photo STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images

Two weeks ago, a group of businessmen received a fax messages purportedly from a foreign company, saying one of its representatives was due in Sri Lanka to talk business.

The fax message to the businessmen said they had been recognized as leading figures in the trade and that the visiting representative would meet them. The businessmen were naturally impressed and eagerly awaited the visit. They were given a contact mobile number and told to seek an appointment. Accordingly, some of the businessmen had responded and sought an appointment. They were told the foreign representative would be staying at a hotel in Dambulla because of the security situation in Colombo.

The scenario became a little suspicious when two businessmen who sought appointments and went to Dambulla were turned away – one because he was accompanied by his wife and the other because he had sent his secretary and manager instead of himself.Undeterred by this, apparently because the prospects were so attractive, another businessman went to Dambulla and was thrilled when he got an appointment.

The businessman was met in the lobby of the hotel by a person who claimed to be the local agent of the foreign representative. He said they could proceed in the businessman’s jeep to meet the representative, apparently in another hotel. A gang armed with T56 automatic rifles stopped the jeep and forced the businessman and the so-called local agent to get into a van and the chill ran down the businessman’s spine when he realized that it was one of those notorious white vans.

A Sunday Times investigation revealed that the businessman was forced to put his head on his lap and driven to a secret place where his abductors demanded a staggering Rs. 50 million for his release.

It turned out to be three days of horror with the businessman first pleading he could not raise such a huge amount, but the torture increased till the abductors finally settled for about half that amount.

This came after the businessman was allowed to give telephone calls to his family and partners to raise the money. Arrangements were made for the cash to be brought in a brief case and left at a lonely place where some members of the gang would pick it up. The businessman was then released somewhere in the Kandy district and told where he could find his jeep. According to investigations, other possible victims who received the same fax message escaped because they had suspicions about the manner in which the appointments were worked out in Dambulla.

The victim and the would-be victims are, however, afraid and unwilling to even make a complaint to the police because of possible reprisals. They are even afraid to speak to the media but only tell their horror story to family members and close friends.Our investigations also reveal that the fax message was sent to businessmen who were known to be doing well in the trade and thus quite wealthy. Apparently the aim of the gang was to get a big ransom and questions are now being raised as to how and from where the gang got the information about the assets and the profits of the businessmen in this trade.

One possible source is a state agency.

The ransom demands to this group of businessmen are part of a countrywide crisis involving abductions, ransom demands and even killings.

The crisis has drawn international attention and condemnation with world human rights groups painting a grim picture of Sri Lanka.

In one of the recent cases, a timber merchant from Panadura was abducted and a ransom of Rs. 10 million demanded. His wife made a complaint to the police and the merchant was released the next day but he is not saying anything about whether the ransom was paid while the police also claimed they do not know how he was released.

Deputy Inspector General N.K. Illangakoon, acting police spokesman had tried to record a statement from the merchant but he was reluctant to do so and police were not sure whether he had paid any ransom for his release.

In many cases where ransom had been paid after abducting businessmen, they had reportedly been warned not to talk to the police or the media.

The trend has created fear and panic among the business community and many are reported to be making arrangements to go overseas with their investments and families.

One businessman told The Sunday Times he was leaving with his wife and children even without informing the principals of the schools where they were studying.

Several businessmen warned that if the dangerous trend was not effectively checked, the economy would suffer a major blow.

Explaining the position of the police, DIG Illangakoon said they could not act effectively because the victims were apparently afraid or unwilling to make complaints or give details. He said that wherever complaints were made and details given, the police were able to track down some of the gangsters.

But the businessmen say their fears are valid because in many cases, the victims had recognized some of the gangsters as former police or military personnel or even personnel still in service.

One victim provided evidence to this claim by saying that his abductors had stopped the jeep, some distance from security forces checkpoints, and got clearance after one or two of the abductors walked up to the checkpoint and showed some identity cards.

Tamils in Colombo "without a valid reason" are being sent back to their villages, Sri Lanka's police chief said last Friday.

Hundreds of Tamils, many from poor rural areas, live in boarding houses in Colombo while they work, search for jobs or seek employment abroad.

Many Tamils in Colombo complain they are being deliberately targeted by the security forces, detained and searched as the military conflict with the LTTE heats up.

"Because there is no a special label to identify an LTTE terrorist and a civilian, we took the decision to send them back to their villages after they finished their work here in Colombo," Inspector General of Police Victor Perera told a news conference.

"Some people who have arrived in Colombo do not have a valid reason to stay," he added.

"Anybody can come to Colombo, there is no restriction. But they can't stay loitering in Colombo. We have decided to provide transport facilities for them to go back to their own villages."

The police instructed the owners of 68 lodges in Pettah to expel Tamil tenants to their ‘native places’ within 24 hours, warning that the military would step in to force the evacuation if they failed to comply.

Chief Inspector Jayaratne summoned the lodge owners last Thursday on short notice to convey the warning.

Individuals in Colombo for medical treatment, individuals waiting to go abroad for education or employment, families in Colombo to meet with family members visiting from abroad and those with military clearance are among more than 5000 Tamils who were instructed to vacate the lodges, according to lodge owners in Pettah.

"Even those who were scheduled to leave Colombo to India on Sunday were not allowed to stay in the lodges after Friday," a lodge owner told TamilNet.

"Are you from North, go back to Vavuniya. Are you from Hatton, go back to Hatton," Inspector Jayaratne told the lodge owners, stating he had clear instructions from higher authorities.

The move comes after two suspected Tamil Tiger bomb attacks in the capital in a week and a string in recent months. Officials suspect that Tiger cells are installed in the capital and seeking to stage attacks, AFP reported.

But the planned restriction on Tamils rang alarm bells.

"If a democratic society takes this course of action, it is unacceptable because it is clearly a serious violation of their human rights," said Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council.

"This is a very harsh decision."

"This is the first time such a thing has been spoken about officially, so it suggests the conflict is deteriorating," he added. "This is a new low."

While Tamil political parties expressed their objections, police Saturday moved in to check the identity of inmates living in lodges before deciding whether they would be allowed to remain in Colombo or face immediate eviction to their villages, The Sunday Leader reported.

Police said that lodge occupants with no proper identity would be ordered to move. Tamils in possession of regular identity cards living in lodges and in rented houses in Colombo say they live in fear that they may be arrested anytime if the police feel suspicious.

Muttiah Pillai, a lodge owner in Pettah said “There are families and individuals coming from the north-east areas and from the hill country. Some come for medical treatment, some for studies, while others come to obtain visas and a few to earn little money... We can’t believe why they are doing this to all Tamils, he said.

Though his hometown is in Jaffna, Mr. Pillai has lived in Colombo since 1966.

According to him, police claimed there were 250 suspected LTTE cadres in Colombo and it was difficult to find them because of the numbers of Tamils living in the lodges of Colombo.

S.B. Yoganathan, another lodge-owner in Pettah said that people coming to Colombo from the north and east had to get the clearance from the Army. A copy of this clearance note was needed to stay in the lodges he said.

“There are many Tamil youth desperately wanting to go abroad but haven’t any financial support. They are unable to find jobs either in Colombo or in their hometowns. Due to this some of them come with agreements with unregistered agencies and have no proof that they are hoping to go abroad. Ultimately these youngsters end up in jail as suspects” he said.

S. Sridhar, a lodge owner in Pettah said that most of the families stay in Colombo for long periods, as they were either too afraid to go back to their home towns, or faced delays in obtaining passports and at times when either breadwinner of the family or a child is hospitalised over a long period of time.

Colombo District MP Mano Ganeshan, speaking on the crisis said the problem faced by these people should be seen as a humanitarian crisis. He demanded that authorities treat Tamils as human beings and not as cattle.

“With the support of the UNP, we are watching the situation closely and hope to take up this issue in Parliament” he said.

Following complaints of the police enforcing an eviction order on lodgers in Colombo, UNP MP’s Ravi Karunanayake and Lakshman Kiriella visited the Pettah police and held discussions regarding the issue.

However when Mr. Karunanayake confronted the IP of the Pettah police station, he claimed that there had been an overreaction to a comment, The Sunday Leader reported. He claimed it was impossible to evict nearly 10,000 persons to catch a suspect or two.

Sri Lankans have received with mixed feelings India's demand that Colombo avoid procuring arms from Pakistan and China, and that it should come to India instead, even though India will not provide offensive equipment.

Sri Lankan officials have reacted cautiously to the demand voiced by National Security Advisor MK Narayanan in Chennai on Thursday.

But Sinhala commentators are indignant, and the Tamil leaders are dismayed, if not angry.

Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona neatly skirted the issue: "We would like to work closely with India in regard to our defence requirements. We are appreciative of the assistance that we have received so far," he told Hindustan Times over phone from Singapore on Friday.

Privately, Sri Lankan officials say that statements from India's central government often reflect the need to keep Tamil Nadu in good humour.

But if Naranayan's statement is meant to be taken seriously as a warning from a "Big Power" to Sri Lanka, then India should give Sri Lanka the offensive weapons which will otherwise have come from Pakistan and China, they say.

Sri Lankans are worried about the cost factor too. China is the cheapest source of arms. Even Ukraine or Russia is more costly, let alone the West.

Sunday Leader columnist Gamini Weerakoon said that Narayanan's statement limited Sri Lanka's sovereignty. "A sovereign government should be able to buy armaments from any source," he said.

India seemed to be going back to the Indira Doctrine of the 1980s, according to which, there was no place in the South Asian region for any power "inimical to India," he said.

Weerakoon feared that even the West would go by India's advice and refrain from selling military equipment to Sri Lanka.

"In 2000, when Jaffna was under siege by the LTTE, major nations including India, failed to come to Sri Lanka's rescue. India only offered humanitarian assistance. It was Pakistan and China which helped it stem the tide," he recalled.

"India claims to be a big power. But it cannot be a big power if it does not take responsibility for the security of the region. It has to ensure Sri Lanka's security," Weerakoon asserted.

Shamindra Ferdinando, defence analyst of The Island wondered why Narayanan had made arms procurement from Pakistan and China a big issue, when they were not big suppliers. "India has given more. It has given two ships and radars with Indian operators. Armoured Corps personnel are being trained in India."

Ferdinando felt that Narayanan's statement could either be a ploy to please Tamil Nadu or a smokescreen for an Indian military involvement as was the case in the 1980s when India intervened saying that "outsiders" were poking their noses into the affairs of its backyard.

He feared that, as in the 1980s, India could be worried that the LTTE might be crushed, and with its exit, a lever to control Sri Lanka would be lost.

Sri Lanka’s Tamils, on the hand, dread to think of the day when the Indian Leviathan will be militarily backing the Sri Lankan government, whose armed forces are now waging a no-holds-barred war in the Tamil North East.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, N Sri Kantha, wondered if Narayanan's demand that Colombo approach New Delhi for its defence needs, meant that India was wanting to back Colombo's military approach to the Tamil problem.

"If this is the case, then the situation in Sri Lanka will only be further militarised and violence will increase," Sri Kantha said.

(Edited)

Indian is to develop the KKS harbour in the Jaffna peninsula and boost Colombo’s air defences, reports quoting ministers from both countries said this week.

India will explore helping Sri Lanka patrol the seas between the countries, the reports said.

The Indian Government is to resume expansion of the Kankesanthurai harbour in the Jaffna peninsula following the Sri Lankan government informing Delhi that the security situation in the area had “improved considerably,” press reports said Monday.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told the Indian government that the development of the harbour to its full potential will facilitate the transport of supplies to the Jaffna Peninsula, including directly from India.

Sri Lanka’s military has at least three divisions (some 40,000) on the northern peninsula which is cut off from the rest of the island by a huge swathe of territory controlled by the Tamil Tigers.

The Sri Lankan garrison in Jaffna is entirely reliant on precarious sea and air supply lines.

The expansion of KKS harbour and the prospects of resupply from India would greatly assist the Sri Lankan military to sustain its military operations against LTTE held areas in the south of the peninsula.

But while Sri Lanka announced ‘coordinate naval patrolling’ with India’s navy was to take place, India’s Defence Minister A.K. Anthony said India was “examining the idea.”

Last week Indian National Security Advisor M K Narayanan ruled out a unified command for the Lankan Navy and the Indian Coast guard, but indicated that the Indian government was willing to look at proposals for ‘coordinated patrolling.’

Mr. Bogollagama and Indian Defence Minister A.K. Anthony held discussions on the sidelines of the 6th Annual IISS Asian Security Summit in Singapore.

India had said it would continue to strengthen Sri Lanka’s air defence capability and expressed readiness to accede to the island’s request to conduct coordinated patrols of the maritime boundary between the two countries, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying Sunday.

“Modalities for this deployment will be worked out between the two sides,” the Ministry said.

However, Mr. Anthony, speaking on Colombo's long-standing proposal for coordinated patrolling by the two navies said it was put across to Sri Lanka that India "will examine that."

In turn, outlining Colombo's version of this conversation, Mr. Bogollagama noted: "Mr. Antony said they are examining it favourably."

So, it was inferred that an "agreement" on patrolling had now been reached, press reports said.

But there was agreement on air defences, reports said.

''The Indian Defence Minister assured [Mr. Bogollagama] that his government will continue to strengthen Sri Lanka’s air defence capability and noted that an Indian team was currently in Sri Lanka for this purpose,'' the statement said.

Speaking to reporters in Singapore, Mr. Anthony said he had conveyed India's willingness to extend "whatever possible help" to Sri Lanka.

He said the message to Sri Lanka was that "we are with you" on the issues of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unity of the island state.

Saying that “rise of the LTTEair power in Sri Lanka is of concern to India,” Mr. Anthony said that India "will give Sri Lanka reasonable support for that.”

At the same time, he expressed India’s preference for a "political solution" in Sri Lanka, reports said.

Mr. Bogollagama also met earlier with Britain’s Minister for Armed Forces, Adam Ingram, the reports said.

Mr. Ingram had appreciated the efforts being made by the Government to counter the terrorist threat posed by the LTTE, it said.

Referring to the recent British House of Commons debate on Sri Lanka, Minister Bogollagama told the British Minister that regrettably many who spoke failed to appreciate the complexities of the Sri Lankan situation and that it had not been taken cognizance of by most Members.

Minister Ingram said he would personally appraise Members of Sri Lanka’s perspective on the issue, and urged that the Sri Lankan Government did so as well.

Unmindful of India's opposition to Sri Lanka turning to Pakistan and China for military hardware to bolster its offensive against the Tamil Tigers, Colombo has recently inked several significant defence agreements with Beijing.

Citing exclusive access to an internal Sri Lankan cabinet document, Britain's renowned Jane's Defence Weekly reported that Sri Lanka had signed a classified $37.6 million deal with China's Poly Technologies in April to supply its defence forces with ammunition and ordnance for the army and navy in addition to varied small arms.

Gotabaya Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan defence secretary and a brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, told Indian authorities May 30 that 'security compulsions' were driving Colombo to seek military equipment from China, Pakistan and other suppliers.

He is also believed to have informed India's security establishment that Colombo 'understood' New Delhi's internal political compulsions, foreclosing enhanced military co-operation between the neighbours.

The Sri Lankan official was reportedly making a direct reference to Tamil Nadu, which is separated from Sri Lanka by a strip of sea and where there is considerable support for the Tamil guerrillas.

Senior security officials concede that a bilateral defence agreement between Colombo and New Delhi drawn up over two years ago remains 'hostage' to India's Tamil concerns. This, in turn, forces Colombo to seek alternate weapon suppliers.

Janes' current edition says that Colombo has declined to renew its long standing agreement with China's North Industries Corporation (Norinco) for defence equipment, opting instead for Poly Technologies, founded as a rival in 1984 by Beijing's military establishment.

While outwardly a subsidiary of the China International Trust and Investment Corp, military analysts said that in reality the Beijing-based Poly Technologies was a 'front company' for China's military-industrial complex.

It reports to the armament department of the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department and is authorized to sell conventional military equipment including short and medium-range ballistic missiles.

While the reasons for the Sri Lankan government switching to Poly Technologies appear unclear, it seems the change was prompted by the debt of $200 million it owed Norinco, which has maintained a bonded warehouse in the southern port city of Galle since 1993.

Colombo's long-standing agreement with Norinco was exclusive, prohibiting it from sourcing specific military items from any another Chinese supplier.

The contract with Poly Technologies, however, contravenes this clause, seemingly invalidating the earlier agreement providing the Sri Lankan military an alternate materiel supplier, Jane's states.

The agreement with Poly Technologies, however, 'aims to avoid the development of any debt through a system of staggered payments', Jane's says, necessitating an advance 25 percent payment and the balance payable in 10 quarterly installments.

The largest single order with Poly Technologies is for 120 mm mortar shells for the army, of which 70,000 rounds are priced at $10.4 million.

Additional imports include 68,000 rounds of varied 152 mm artillery shell worth nearly $20 million besides 50,000 81 mm high-explosive mortar bombs for $3.7 million, all of which the army needs to reinforce its 'pro-active' military strategy against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The Sri Lankan navy's requirement valued at$ 2.7 million includes a varied range of ammunition like 100,000 14.5 mm cartridges, 2,000 RPG-7 rockets and 500 81 mm airburst mortar shells.

There are also 50 Type 82 14.5 mm twin-barrel naval guns, 200 Type 85 12.7 mm heavy machine guns, 200 Type 80 7.62 mm multipurpose machine guns, 1,000 Type 56-2 7.62 mm submachine guns and 1,000 Type 56 7.62 mm submachine guns, Jane's reports.

China, meanwhile, is also helping Sri Lanka augment its air defence capability following four recent strikes by the fledgling Tamil Tiger air force that has resulted in international airlines declining to operate night flights to Colombo.

Jane's declared that the China National Electronics Import Export Corp is to provide Sri Lanka a JY 11 3D radar for $5 million over the next few weeks once the site for its location near Colombo is ready.

It was Gotabaya Rajapakse, the defence secretary who concluded the contract for the radar for the Lanka Logistics and Technologies Co Ltd that he heads.

Colombo had initially ordered the JY 11 radar two years ago, making payments in advance but was forced to call off the deal following Indian protests that the system would 'over arch' into its air space.

Thereafter, India supplied Sri Lanka two Indra IN-PC-2D radars free of charge and is believed to have agreed to Colombo's request for at least one more following the spate of LTTE air raids.

The Indra radars have become a source of tension with India, with some Sri Lankan officials claiming they failed to detect the ingress by a Tamil Tiger propeller aircraft to an air force base outside Colombo in March. Three airmen were killed and 16 wounded in the attack.

Sri Lanka is also negotiating with the Chinese conglomerate for three additional mobile radars for use across the country as the second Tiger air strike was conducted against the government's Palaly military base in Jaffna peninsula.

In an associated development, Sri Lanka is also planning on acquiring an unspecified number of MiG 29 fighters to boost its air power.

The director of Aeronautical Engineering, Air Vice Marshal Prashantha de Silva, is scheduled to visit Moscow to discuss the acquisition, states Jane's.

Indian defence sources said New Delhi, which also operates at least three MiG 29 squadrons, could play an 'important' role in Sri Lanka's proposed purchase of similar fighters by agreeing to provide training, spares, servicing and other logistic back-up.
Sri Lankan officials are also planning visiting Ulan Ude in Russia to negotiate the purchase of four helicopter gunships and to Ukraine for talks on overhauling and possibly upgrading An 32 transport aircraft.

Sri Lanka should not seek weapons from Pakistan or China and it should come to India whatever might be their requirement, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan was quoted by India media as saying last week.

“It is high time that Sri Lanka understood that India is the big power in the region and ought to refrain from going to Pakistan or China for weapons, as we are prepared to accommodate them within the framework of our foreign policy,” Narayanan said.

“But it should be clear to Colombo that we cannot supply completely offensive military equipment,” he was quoted by IANS as saying.

“We are, however, willing to look at other options like better radars and tracking ordnance to (meet) the Sri Lankan government's defence needs in the light of repeated air attacks by the LTTE.”

To reporters’ query on opposition from political leaders in Tamil Nadu for providing radars to Sri Lankan government, Narayan said, "Radars are seen as a defensive capability. Hence, we have provided the Sri Lankan government with them."

Reacting to a question whether he saw air capabilities of LTTE as a threat to India's security, he said, "We are not in favour of any terrorist organisation having air capabilities."

Mr. Narayanan was speaking to media after meeting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Chennai, Thursday.

On coordinated patrolling along the Tamil Nadu coast to protect fishermen, he said, "I will check with the navy if there is a problem for functioning under a unified command. I think it is a good idea."

Talking about his meeting with Karunanidhi, Narayanan said: “We discussed the security scenario and the problems faced by the Tamil Nadu fishermen.”

“The chief minister was apprised of the centre's view of strengthening the defence of our coastline in the south with special emphasis on the Tuticorin port and its hinterland,” he added.

When asked whether the fishermen should be instructed not to cross the international boundary line between Sri Lanka and India, he said, “Fishermen will go wherever there are fishes. To prevent them from crossing the boundary line is asking for too much.”

“For something as minor as that, the Lankan Navy firing on our fishermen will no longer be tolerated. I have conveyed this personally on telephone to senior officials in Colombo,” Mr. Narayanan disclosed.

“Fishermen are going there for their livelihood. We have told the Sri Lankan navy not to fire at them and they have assured us that there will be no firing. By and large they are adhering to this.”

Since simmering tensions within the Karuna Group, the main Army-backed paramilitary group in Sri Lanka’s east, erupted into factional clashes in early May, a series of tit-for-at killings, abductions and hostage taking is continuing.

Karuna (c) has fallen out with his deputy Pillayan (l) over control of the paramilitary group’s finances and command. Photo TamilNet

Meanwhile several cadres and prominent members of the group have fled abroad to escape the violence, reports said.

The Karuna Group is named after its leader, Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan (‘Karuna’), the renegade Tamil Tiger commander who deserted to the Sri Lanka military after his six week rebellion against the LTTE was crushed in April 2004.

Since then the Karuna Group is being supported by the military in a murderous shadow war against the LTTE and its supporters.

Two months ago it was reported that Karuna has fallen out with Pillayan, the deputy leader of the Karuna Group, officially titled the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), in a dispute over funds and control of the group.

Pillayan has accused Karuna of misappropriating funds from the group. The TMVP is reportedly earning vast sums from extortion and kidnapping for ransom of Tamil and Muslim businessmen in Colombo and Tamil expatriates visiting Sri Lanka.

The internal dispute escalated into an internecine war several weeks ago when Karuna ordered his loyalists to hunt down and kill Pillayan and his supporters, Tamil press reports said.

According to the reports, a meeting arranged by Sri Lanka’s military for the two factions to patch up their differences resulted in a vicious shootout.

Iniyabarathy, a Karuna loyalist, shot two of his former comrades now in Pullayan’s faction - Sindujan, the Intelligence wing leader of the Karuna Group and Seelan who had led the cadres in Amparai district. Sindujan died on the spot whilst Seelan escaped with injuries.

Pillayan, described as ‘supreme’ commander of the Karuna Group was reportedly also coordinating its activities in the field on behalf of Karuna, who remains in hiding in Colombo.

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Pillayan is the strategist behind most of the operations carried out against the LTTE in the east while Karuna was focused on building a political platform to contest at future elections.

Following the outbreak of violence with the group Pillayan fled north with over 150 cadres loyal to him. He was helped by Sri Lankan military intelligence.

Indeed, some analysts argue that the split was engineered by the Sri Lankan military itself to make the management of the paramilitary group easier and to curb any political ambitions Karuna may have had.

As ordered by the military, Pillayan and his gunmen are now operating in Trincomalee district while rump of the Karuna Group continues to operate in Batticaloa and Amparai.

According to Pillayan loyalists, several military and political leaders of the Karuna Group, along with some 350 cadres had offered allegiance to Pillayan and joined him in Trincomalee.

“We will continue to fight against the [LTTE] but we will definitely not patch up with Karuna Amman,” told a Pillayan spokesman to the Daily Mirror in mid May.

However within a week of this statement coming out, Karuna Group spokesperson Azad Moulana announced following lengthy discussions at a face-to-face meeting Karuna and Pillayan had resolved their differences.

“It is true there were differences between the two. I’m happy to say it has been sorted and we will function as usual,” Moulana told the Daily Mirror in late May.

According to Moulana, it was agreed in the meeting that Karuna and Pillayan would continue functioning in their previous roles as the leader of the group and supreme commander respectively.

But this announcement by the Karuna spokesperson was promptly refuted by a spokesperson from Pillayan faction who told the Daily Mirror that a central committee consisting of senior TMVP officials were be formed to be the decision making body of the organization.

“It will be the central committee which will ultimately decide on financial issues and military action to be taken against the LTTE,” the Pillayan representative added.

Amid the factions’ conflicting claims a number of clashes between them have left many dead and injured. Many members of both factions also fled the eastern districts fearing reprisal from the other side.

Last week Daily Mirror, which has tracked the factional war between Karuna and Pillayan reported the latter had issued a final warning to the former giving him one month to leave the outfit or be forcefully ejected from it.

According to Pillayan loyalists the warning came after a failure to resolve the dispute and continuing misuse of TMVP funds by Karuna.

The Pillayan group further charged that Karuna was holding some of their cadres and supporters under house arrest.

In the meantime Karuna telephoned the Daily Mirror to deny there was a split.

“Some elements are attempting to divide the TMVP by making all these claims mentioned in your [paper],” Karuna said.

“There is no problem between me and Pillayan now. Everything is sorted but some people are trying to get involved in the internal matters of the TMVP to scuttle things,” he said.

But Karuna also told Daily Mirror that the position of ‘supreme commander’ was not necessary as the TMVP was aiming to be a political party without a military unit and cited the TMVP proposal to the APRC as indication of the direction the party was going in.

But yet again Karuna’s claims of patching up with Pillayan were rejected by the latter’s response.

“Pillayan wants me to tell you there is a problem and within the space of one month he himself will come out with a public statement about his split with Karuna,” a spokesman for the Pillayan group told the Daily Mirror.

“If Karuna could go ahead and remove his deputy and replace him with someone else it shows there is a problem.”

The Pillayan spokesman meanwhile said they stood ready to work with Karuna if he admitted the mistakes including the alleged killing of Pillayan loyalists and the detention of several others as a result of the split.

“But we will not wait too long,” the Pillayan faction warned.

However in the last week the factional fighting has intensified with both factions attacking each other and Karuna cadre harassing and holding hostage supporters and relatives of Pillaiyan loyalists.

An ambush by Karuna group on Pillayan group in Polanaruwa left eight dead.

As a response to this attack a pair of three wheelers carrying Karuna cadres were attacked in Pottuvil in Amparai district leaving six dead.

According to Sri Lankan media reports, Karuna’s faction is holding more than 75 Pillayan cadre in camps under extremely deplorable conditions in Ampara and Batticaloa who were on their way to Trincomalee to join Pillayan.

“Karuna’s cadres have also taken hostage some 30 females, who are mothers or wives of pro-Pillaiyan cadres who have left Karuna and are now with Pillaiyan in Trincomalee,” the sources told the Nation.

According to Sri Lankan papers many relatives of Pillayan loyalists including the wife and child of Seelan, the injured in the shoot out in early May are currently kept hostage in three camps located at Govindan Road in Batticaloa, Akkaraipattu and Vakarai.

President Mahinda Rajapakse (l) with Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Photo TamilNet

In an extensive interview to Al Jazeera television last week, Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse set out his government’s policy on the island’s protracted conflict. In doing so he put forward a number of contradictory assertions and policies, which boiled down to a single overriding theme: military defeat of the Tamil Tigers.

Responding to the questions in his native Sinhala President Rajapakse slammed the LTTE as ‘terrorists’ and ‘criminals’ and vowed to wipe them out.

But at the same time he said he was prepared to negotiate with the Tigers “to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people.”

He later asserted: “we have to bring [a solution] before the people and we also have to eradicate terrorism. We cannot allow these criminals to dictate to us. We cannot have them join us.”

President Rajapakse was interviewed by Al Jazeera’s 101 East presenter, Teymoor Nabili.

Saying that defeating terrorism and giving the Tamils a solution were different issues, President Rajapakse also stated: “while we go ahead with our programme to control these people we will bring forward a solution.”

But he later also said: “a victory is essential against terrorism. … But because we need to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people, I am prepared to go for talks, with the terrorists.”

But then the President also said: “This is a terrorist group. The people are aware that as long as a terrorist organisation exists, that negotiations will not be successful.”

The President said “the people” wanted him to: “defeat the LTTE and talk.”

And when asked “if the Sri Lankan people would prefer a defeat of the LTTE first?” President Rajapakse exclaimed: “First!”

But when asked again “if there must first be military victory and then peace talks?” the President insisted: “No!”

He elaborated: “That is not what I hope for. Until the terrorists are weakened, they will not come for talks. As long as they think they are strong, they will try to break up the country.”

But then the President later argued: “They are making use of the negotiations to strengthen themselves, to bring in arms.”

However, when asked if then “your military strategy is going to continue until the Tigers come to the table and ask for negotiations and lay down their arms,” President Rajapakse said: “No. I am ready to talk even while they carry arms.”

But then he also insisted: “what the LTTE wants [is] to keep their arms and divide the country into two. That I cannot allow.”

The interviewer asked: “Could you then describe a situation under which both those things can be achieved – defeat of the terrorists and representation of the Tamil people?”

President Rajapakse replied: “they must give up terrorism. They must enter a democratic framework. That is what we expect to achieve through negotiations.”

But then he also said: “Even while they fight, if they want to negotiate with me, and reach a solution, I am ready for that too.”

When asked at what point would he accept the LTTE was weakened, President Rajapakse replied: “Even under today’s circumstances. … Even today I am ready to negotiate.”

“My argument,” President Rajapakse said, “is that terrorism has to be got rid off. We cannot kneel down to that. I am not prepared to kneel down to their arms capability.”

The exasperated interviewer then asked: “I apologise, I am not really following you. You say that terrorism must be defeated but you don’t want, you don’t think that a military victory is necessary?”

To which President Rajapakse replied: “Absolutely, a victory is essential against terrorism. That is a different story. But because we need to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people, I am prepared to go for talks, with the terrorists.”

But he later said the Tamils didn’t want LTTE rule, but “if they say they are opposed to the LTTE, they will be killed.”

Asked later how he proposed to bring about a solution to the conflict, President Rajapakse replied: “We have to discuss it, then we have to bring it before the people and we also have to eradicate terrorism.”

Asked about the prospects of dialogue between his government and the LTTE, President Rajapakse said in the same breath: “As a government we cannot have talks. We say that we are ready for talks always.”

“Even while the fighting goes on, I am ready for talks,” he added.

Asked if he would initiate talks with the Tigers, he replied: “Definitely.”

But then he added: “if the LTTE is ready.”

“We have offered a political solution to the people,” he said at one point, without elaborating. “Along with [this] political solution, we are prepared to talk.”

On one hand, defending his military’s perfomance, President Rajapakse said: “We have cleared the east from terrorism. Today, they (Tigers) have been limited to Killinochchi and Mullaitivu areas. We have weakened them.”

But asked about the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), he replied: “[LTTE] does not honour that. We still honour it. We still do not send our police, our army to that side.”

“This agreement is between us,” he said of the CFA, but then added: “We are prepared to renew the agreement at any time.”

When asked about concerns raised by visiting US envoy Richard Boucher about human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, Mr. Rajapakse said: “actually, today I am not prepared to accept that there are human rights violations as has been reported.”

President Rajapakse said the Sri Lankan military was “a very disciplined force” to an extent “not seen in any other country.”

He elaborated, by comparing the military to those of other countries: “We know that in certain instances when bombs are dropped in other countries, people are killed, children die. We do not behave like that. We did not do that. We protected every civilian.”

“Not a single civilian was injured when we took Vakarai,” he said, referring to a military operation in which aid workers and rights groups say scores of civilians were killed in indiscriminate bombardment.

When pressed on abductions and ‘disappearances’ and asked about Human Rights Watch’s documentation of 700 or more case, President Rajapakse replied:

“Many of those people who are said to have been abducted are in England, Germany, gone abroad.”

“Some talk of a few people abducted from Colombo. We do not know whether they are fighting [with the LTTE] in Killinochchi,” he added.

“This is all against the government,” President Rajapakse said. “We have seen this business. We have found out that under the same name, they have gone abroad.”

His response prompted the interview to ask: “So this is a conspiracy?”

“Definitely,” the President replied. “The LTTE has abducted people and killed them. The state forces do not have to abduct people because we have the law.”

“We can question them, and remand them, imprison them. We can detain them under emergency laws. So there is no need [for the state] to abduct someone,” he explained.

The President’s mood darkened when asked about the possibility of humanitarian intervention.

“Sri Lanka is not a colony of England, America or any other country. Sri Lanka is a sovereign state,” he said.

He insisted, paradoxically: “So when they get involved it is important that they do not interfere in the internal affairs of this country.”

He also argued: “Another country cannot force a solution. To find a solution for this country, it is not England of Germany that can help. It is India that can find a solution.”

“To offer a solution to this problem, according to the present situation, to help the Tamil people, India’s support is necessary,” he said without elaborating.

The following is a transcript of an interview between Al Jazeera’s 101 East presenter Teymoor Nabili and Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka broadcast on May 30, 2007

Teymoor Nabili: Mr President, the Tamil Tigers launched their first attack against your government and against the Sri Lankan people only weeks after you came to power. Why do you think it was, that after so long of adhering to the peace plan, they suddenly decided to start attacking again?

President Mahinda Rajapaksa: They would have thought it was a weakness of mine, that I could be defeated. That was a good opportunity for them to establish a separate state. They would have believed that.

Is it possible that for Prabhakaran, war or continuing conflict is actually a preferred option because only by convincing the northern population that they were under attack can he convince them to support his movement. If there were no attacks from the government the population would lose the need for his command ?

Like I said before, he thought that we were weak, that the state is weak, that he is strong. But now, he has come to a point, where he has accepted that. He has lost the east. Prabhakaran does not represent the aspirations of the Tamil people. What he represents, is the interests of a small group, not the needs of the Tamil people. The Tamil people do not want a war, they want peace. The government does not need a war, the government wants peace.

Is there any level of dialogue at all between your government and the LTTE right now?

Actually, at present there are no talks at any level. As a government we cannot have talks. We say that we are ready for talks always.

You don’t see any value in dialogue?

We are always ready for talks. Always, even today. Even while the fighting goes on, I am ready for talks. Even being armed, the way they are behaving today, we are ready to go forward.

When you say you are prepared to talk, you are prepared to instigate, to initiate dialogue?

Definitely, if the LTTE is ready. [It takes] two hands to clap.

Have you made the offer?


I am ready if Prabhakaran is ready. We have said that very clearly. I am ready, but I am not prepared to kneel before the terrorism of the LTTE. I have said that many times. If I am attacked, I will counter attack. That is what we have done at every occasion.

We have then, a face-off. How does one get around what seems to be an intractable problem?

Actually in this instance, and at every other instance we have said, come and commence talks with us, we are ready. We have offered a political solution to the people. Along with the political solution, we are prepared to talk. But what the LTTE wants, to keep their arms and divide the country into two. That I cannot allow.

Do you think the Sri Lankan people would rather see a victory against the Tamil Tigers or a peace agreement with the Tamil Tigers?

The people have been battered by the LTTE for many years. It has come to a point where the LTTE cannot be trusted. If the people are asked, they will say, defeat the LTTE and talk. But I am ready to talk with the LTTE. From the other side, this question is a question not faced in any other country. Where a head of state asks Prabhakaran to talk.

So you are saying that you think the Sri Lankan people would prefer a defeat of the LTTE first?

First. Opinion polls seem to suggest that peace is much more important to the Sri Lankan people. For the people, LTTE, peace - the people want peace, that is the truth, without defeating the LTTE, without defeating the terrorism of the LTTE. There is no politics in this. There is a political side and terrorism here. This is a terrorist group. The people are aware that as long as a terrorist organisation exists, that negotiations will not be successful. They are making use of the negotiations to strengthen themselves, to bring in arms. This is a historical fact, historically because the people have been battered. Today we have to be very careful.

So let me be clear on this: what you’re saying is that there must first be military victory and then peace talks?

No. That is not what I hope for. Until the terrorists are weakened, they will not come for talks. As long as they think they are strong, they will try to break up the country. Today, what we hope is to fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil people.

What do you mean by weakened? At what point will you accept that the Tamil Tigers are weakened because it’s now been almost a year of …

Even under today’s circumstances. Clearly said, what the people expect. But what I expect is not that. I said that even today I am ready to negotiate, very clearly. My argument is that terrorism has to be got rid off. We cannot kneel down to that. I am not prepared to kneel down to their arms capability. But I am committed to ensuring the rights of the Tamil people. That I will achieve, somehow.

I apologise, I am not really following you. You say that terrorism must be defeated but you don’t want, you don’t think that a military victory is necessary?

Absolutely, a victory is essential against terrorism. That is a different story. But because we need to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people, I am prepared to go for talks, with the terrorists. I have come to that point. Has any other world leader said that?

Could you then describe a situation under which both those things can be achieved – defeat of the terrorists and representation of the Tamil people? What I am struggling to understand here is if the defeat of terrorism is a key element of your strategy and yet dialogue is also a key element of your strategy. How do you see those two working together? Which comes first and how do you proceed?

Now, we tried to talk at the beginning. While keeping their arms, we were prepared to talk. When we went to Geneva; they killed innocent people. Even while they were killing, I negotiated. I think, if you were to compare with other countries, you will see a difference. In other countries there will be no negotiations. But, we have been prepared, we have negotiated, we have shown that we are genuinely ready to do that. But they must give up terrorism. They must enter a democratic framework. Without that, that is what we expect to achieve through negotiations. It was clear during our negotiations with them, that they have no interest in negotiating because they believe they can win this war, that they can divide this country into two. That is their strong belief, Prabhakaran’s belief.

The message I am hearing from you right now is that your military strategy is going to continue until the Tigers come to the table and ask for negotiations and lay down their arms.

No. I am ready to talk even while they carry arms. Even while they fight, if they want to negotiate with me, and reach a solution, I am ready for that too.

Let me rephrase then. What you are saying is that the government’s military strategy will continue as is, until you get a signal from Prabhakaran that he is willing to talk and he is willing to stop his military action first?

If they do not attack me, I will not attack. If they stay where they are, keeping their arms, I have no problem with that. But, they must agree to a political solution. To achieve the aspirations of the Tamil people, and to achieve the aspirations of the people of this country, I am prepared. Because I will not divide people as Tamils, Muslims or Sinhalese.

Let’s assume that Prabhakaran is committed to a military victory against the government. Is it your belief that the government can defeat the Tigers militarily if it comes to the necessity?

Actually, the government has the capability to defeat them. The government is strong. Defeating terrorism is not only for the Sri Lankan government. To protect democracy, the whole world must act to defeat terrorism

But we’ve had a year now of the government putting an all-out effort to counter the Tamil Tiger terrorism and in that time there has not only been no progress made, we now see they have an air force.

I must say this very clearly. We have cleared the east from terrorism. Today, they have been limited to Killinochchi and Mullaitivu areas. We have weakened them. They receive help from the European and other countries, they get strong. As long as they get this protection money they will carry this out as a business. We must keep that in mind.

Do you think Prabhakaran should admit finally that the ceasefire agreement is dead?

Prabhakaran is breaking it all the time. Prabhakaran is not talking about a ceasefire agreement. When it’s needed, he talks about it to the international community. Prabhakaran has completely forgotten about it, and is carrying out his terrorist activities.

As far as you are concerned it’s no more than a piece of paper now?

Even though I dislike saying it, the agreement has fallen to that state. This agreement is between us. We are prepared to renew the agreement at any time. But Prabhakaran does not honour that. We still honour it. We still do not send our police, our army to that side.

Richard Boucher visited Sri Lanka recently and he said there are two aspects that concern us, abductions and killings and the freedom of the press. Other human rights organisations have also levelled criticisms at the forces, armed forces.

Actually, today I am not prepared to accept that there are human rights violations as has been reported. When such accusations are made, I, the forces, the police …

Are you willing to accept that there are violations of human rights occurring?

Knowingly, a state will not violate human rights, abduct people. That must be stated very clearly. Our forces are a very disciplined force. Not seen in any other country. Not a single civilian was injured when we took Vakarai. We know that in certain instances when bombs are dropped in other countries, people are killed, children die. We do not behave like that. We did not do that. We protected every civilian.

But Human Rights Watch has documented at least 700 and more abductions during your term.

Many of those people who are said to have been abducted are in England, Germany, gone abroad. They have made complaints that they were abducted, but when they return they don’t say. Some talk of a few people abducted from Colombo. We do not know whether they are fighting in Killinochchi, we have no way of finding out. This is all against the government. We have seen this business. We have found out that under the same name, they have gone abroad. In these lists we have seen.

So this is a conspiracy?

Definitely, I don’t refute the fact that the LTTE is abducting people. The LTTE has abducted people and killed them. The state forces do not have to abduct people, because we have a law. We can question them, and remand them, imprison them. We can detain them under emergency laws. So there is no need to abduct someone, for the state. If we receive evidence about any incidents, I have appointed a commission to take action against such people. International observers have been brought in. That is what a state can do. If there are killings, we have a police, a law to stop that. For this too, we have a law and a commission.

Let’s move away from abductions, you said after your victory that your aim is to bring about an honourable peace. This has been a long-running problem. How long do you think it can continue to go on before something very serious occurs within the Sri Lankan society itself?

I would like to solve this problem today. This has gone on too far. We need to solve this as quickly as possible. That is why we are working very hard.

How do you propose to do that?

We have to discuss it, then we have to bring it before the people and we also have to eradicate terrorism. We cannot allow these criminals to dictate to us. We cannot have them join us. While we go ahead with our programme to control these people we will bring forward a solution. This way the people will be with us. If you ask the people whether they want LTTE rule, they will say they don’t want it. You go there and ask them. But the problem is that if they say they are opposed to the LTTE, they will be killed.

The ambassador designate to the EU from Sri Lanka has been speaking about his concerns with the situation; that perhaps Europe, and maybe even a Democratic US president after the next election, may begin to support either a humanitarian intervention in Sri Lanka, or a perhaps a slightly stronger intervention in Sri Lanka. Perhaps even ultimately a Bosnia-style solution. Is that a fear that you have?

I believe in this country, for the problem of this country, another country cannot force a solution. To find a solution for this country, it is not Europe that can help. It is India that can find a solution. India is our neighbour. It is essential for the people of India. Therefore I believe, that it is the Indian government that can help us with this question.

But what would you like India to do today?

To offer a solution to this problem, according to the present situation, to help the Tamil people, India’s support is necessary. India must work with this government. It has worked, and my belief is that there must be more support from the Indian government. Sri Lanka is not a colony of England, America or any other country. Sri Lanka is a sovereign state. So when they get involved it is important that they do not interfere in the internal affairs of this country.

Mr President thank you very much for talking to Al Jazeera.

Sri Lankan security forces personnel in the Jaffna peninsula are facing tremendous hardships when going on leave due to a serious shortage of transport facilities, The Island newspaper reported this week.

According to military officials lack of proper logistics to go on leave and return is an important reason for desertions from the Sri Lankan military, the paper said.

About 1,600 security personnel were stranded at the strategic Palaly airbase as of May 24, the paper reported, adding some troops had been languishing at the base for several days, without flights or ship sailings to go home.

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) had operated only two flights to Palaly on May 22 and there had been no flights at all on the following day, the paper said, illustrating the problem.

The SLAF is struggling to meet the transportation demands of the Army with only a single Ukrainian built AN 32 in operation, with all other aircraft suitable for transportation being grounded for servicing.

The SLAF inducted AN 32s into active service in 1995 following the LTTE shooting down the aging HS 748 Avros in April 1995. The AN 32 is currently the workhorse of the SLAF transport fleet.

"The absence of suitable transport is one of the primary reasons for desertions," a junior officer told the Island.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the junior officer expressed serious concern over what he termed as the deteriorating standards in transporting men to and from the peninsula.

"It’s a continuing nightmare," he said, accusing the Sri Lankan government of turning a blind eye to their plight. In fact successive governments had failed to meet this particular requirement, he said.

The Sri Lankan forces rely on air and sea routes to transport men and material to the northern Jaffna peninsula under their control as the land route is cut off by the Vanni region which is under LTTE control.

The A9 highway which links the government held Vavuniya and Jaffna towns runs through the vast Vanni region.

In 1997, having captured Jaffna, the Sri Lankan military launched a disastrous 18 month long operation to establish a supply route to the northern peninsula through Vanni.

Operation Jaya Sikuru (Victory Assured) cost thousands of troops and 18 months of gains were completely lost in a matter of days when the LTTE pushed the army back to its original positions November 1999.

Since then SLAF flights between Ratmalana and Palali and sea supply route maintained by the Sri Lanka navy (SLN) between the eastern port town of Trincomalee and Kankesanturai in Jaffna have been the lifeline for forces deployed in Jaffna.

A cross section of officers interviewed by the Island wanted the government to formulate a plan to meet the urgent requirement of troop transfers.

While a colossal amount of foreign exchange is being squandered on luxury vehicles for politicians, officials and their henchmen and foreign jaunts, the Sri Lankan security forces are forced to experience untold misery, they told the Island.

The paper further added that although married officers and men are given priority with a week’s leave after a month, the unbelievably chaotic situation has ensured that the vast majority of men are denied home leave at decent intervals.

In fact, most of them are given leave once in about three months, they said, emphasizing the difficulties faced by them when returning to their bases in the peninsula.

The Island learns that troops languish for days at the Ratmalana transit camp before being airlifted to Palaly.

And in some instances, troops are moved overland from Ratmalana to Trincomalee to be transported by sea.

But in Trincomalee also troops are forced to suffer a few more days before being put on board a ship which is capable of carrying about 3200 personnel, the paper said.

With the sea supply lines under strain, due to risk of LTTE attack, the SLAF has been also tasked with transporting fresh rations.

As commanding officers and officers holding senior appointments are given priority, the ordinary men faced further delays.

A soldier who goes on leave takes about a month to come back, reported the Island.

According to the The Island unscrupulous gangs operate near military transit camps. Men who languish at these points for days sometimes end up pawning their wristwatches, gold chains and bracelets.

"Don’t forget that the vast majority come from the provinces and they have no option but to remain until they are transported."

Even as Sri Lanka’s military prepared for further offensives against the Tamil Tigers’ northern stronghold, the Army’s Commander appeared to sober expectations, saying Colombo has no intention of capturing LTTE-held areas in the north.

Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka visited the eastern warzone last week. Photo SL Army

“We have no plan to take the North,” Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka told foreign journalists on May 28. “Our plan in the North is to weaken the LTTE militarily so that we are able to maintain our positions there.”

His comments were in contrast to his earlier public statements vowing to wipe out the Tigers, whom he insisted were on the verge of collapse.

“After eradicating the Tigers from the East, [the military’s] full strength will be used to rescue the North.” Gen. Fonseaka declared earlier this year.

President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the commander-in-chief of the military has also been backtracked from his earlier pledge to annihilate the LTTE.

Instead, Rajapakse now says his forces are only fighting to contain the LTTE.

“If they stay where they are, keeping their arms, I have no problem with that.” said Rajapakase during an interview with Al Jazeera on June 1.

Earlier this year, after capturing LTTE administered areas in the east, especially the stronghold at Vaharai and the Paduwankarai area, the Sri Lankan military was visibly brimming with confidence.

However in subsequent months, Colombo’s military strategy has lost momentum.

Firstly, the military is struggling to clear the remaining LTTE-held areas in the east and to control captured areas where a smouldering guerrilla war is dragging on.

Secondly, a series of Sri Lankan military probes in the LTTE-held Vanni in the north have been defeated with casualties.

Also, the military has been trying to make good on Gen. Fonseka’s pledge and break into the LTTE stronghold but repeated operations in Mannar district have failed to make progress.

Thirdly, there have been successful air raids by the LTTE’s newly unveiled Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) against the main airbase and oil installations in Colombo, as well as the main military base complex in the Jaffna peninsula.

The daring airstrikes by the TAF’s light aircraft have also served to create anxieties about the government’s hardline war strategy and to lower the military’s morale.

On March 26 TAF planes bombed the Katunayake air force base adjacent to Sri Lanka’s only international airport north of Colombo. The raid stunned the government and forcing it to step up its air defences, placing anti-aircraft guns around the city and in other parts of the country.

However the security measures proved to be inadequate when TAF planes carried out two more air raids, one targeting Palali military base complex in the Jaffna peninsula, and another targeting oil and fuel storages in and around Colombo.

Sri Lankan army first launched an offensive on March 16 with the aim of capturing Palamoddai, northwest of Vavuniya but retreated following 3 hours of heavy fighting.

On 23 March the army tried to advance into using 120 villagers as human shields, but in 15 hours of fierce fighting the LTTE rescued the hostages and pushed the troops back to their original positions in Thampanai and Chinna Pandivirichaan. The army lost 60 soldiers in this operation.

Since then a number of Army pushes into LTTE-held areas of Mannar district, including the Madhu region, have failed.

In the east the Army is struggling to flush the LTTE out from the think jungles of the Thoppigala region.

The eastern areas captured from the LTTE continue to be volatile with the Tigers carrying out regular ambushes against the military.

Some analysts feel the euphoria in the south following the LTTE’s steady retreats ahead of the military’s offensives was misplaced and argue that the LTTE’s reverting to guerilla tactics from the jungle bases will prove harder to counter.

And in addition to checking Sri Lankan offensives, in recent days the LTTE has also started conducting its own small offensive operations.

On May 24 LTTE marine commandos attacked the Sri Lankan naval detachment in the Delft Island, one of seven islets located west of Jaffna peninsula, killing more than 35 sailors and recovering a large haul of military equipments including anti-aircraft guns and radar.

On June 2 LTTE launched a commando raid on Army camps in the Mannar - Vavuniya border villages pushing back the Sri Lankan military and destroying a Sri Lanka Army artillery launch pad located at Pampaimadu.

The attack, in which the LTTE recovered a significant cache of weapons including armored vehicles, left 20 soldiers dead and 40 injured further denting the military confidence.

The LTTE counter-attacks have dulled the euphoria that was prevalent in the military and amongst Sinhala nationalists a few months ago and raised questions about the viability of the government’s military strategy.

But whilst reluctantly accepting that defeating the LTTE would be harder than initially envisaged, the Rajapakse regime and Sri Lankan military continues to believe in a military solution.

The mass deployment of troops and weapons in the Muhamalai – Nagarkovil forward defence lines (FDL) in Jaffna peninsula for a major assault on Vanni and the hurried purchases of vast quantities of ammunition from China are preparations for a major military campaign.

Whilst playing down the military’s ambitions to manage the expectations, Fonseka has revised the military plans of capturing the east by mid April and focusing on north to liberate areas under LTTE administration.

The strategy the Sri Lankan military is to clear the east fully, a campaign which according to Fonseka would take another five to six months, and then weaken the LTTE in the north.

He estimates the LTTE strength to be 300 fighters in the east positioned in Thoppigala region.

“It [LTTE in the east] can be flushed out of this area in a couple of weeks and then the mopping up operations would have to be carried out to completely clear the area, and that may take five to six months,” he said.

He claimed that there were only 4,000 LTTE fighters in Vanni and further said: “but they are not its best cadres, if they lose 2,000 cadres, they are finished.”

However responding to a question if SLA plans a repeat of Operation Jayasikuru, the disastrous 18 month long attempt in 1997-9 to capture Vanni, he responded in the negative.

Paradoxically he argued: “there is no point in entering areas under LTTE's control before it is weakened militarily.”