Several international actors this week joined a growing chorus of alarm over Sri Lanka’s fast deteriorating ceasefire, urging restraint and calling for renewed peace talks to forstall a return to war.
The February 2002 Norwegian-brokered cease-fire between the Tamil Tigers and the government is under severe strain as a two year old shadow war between Army-backed paramilitaries and the LTTE escalates.
The United Nations’ Secretary General, Kofi Annan, Tuesday warned, like many others, that civilians face enormous suffering if Sri Lanka’s protracted civil war as to erupt again.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York that Mr. Annan was concerned about quickly deteriorating security situation in the tropical island.
Dujarric said the cease-fire was under “severe strain” and that the latest fighting is “once again being felt by the civilian population.”
Annan “strongly urges the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to shore up the cease-fire, ensure respect for the human rights of all Sri Lankans, and urgently resume their dialogue under the facilitation of the Norwegian government,” Dujarric said Monday.
He was echoing a strongly worded warning from international monitors supervising the truce. Last Friday the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) “killings and serious attacks continue and the situation is getting worse. It is our assessment that if the Parties don’t react immediately they risk going back to war.”
The World Bank added its voice to the mounting concerns with the Country Director warning that assistance provided by the international lending agency could see a dent if there was no immediate improvement.
WB Country Head Peter Harrold told the Daily Mirror the level of World Bank assistance in its country assistance strategy depended heavily on the progress of the peace process.
“Conflict reduces the effectiveness of development assistance; it raises the poverty level of conflict affected people and destroys the assets that development assistance has previously provided,” he said, adding that he hoped the upcoming visit of Norwegian Minister and special envoy Erik Solheim would facilitate the process for government and the LTTE to return to the negotiating table.
The European Union also expressed similar fears with visiting EU Commissioner for External Relations, Mrs Benita Ferrero-Waldner, saying: “it is imperative that the government, other political parties and the Tamil Tigers heed the call of the people and join hands to arrest the spread of violence prevailing in the north and in the east.”
“It would quite simply be a tragedy if the various leaders involved failed to meet this basic demand of the people,”
She strongly criticised both sides for wrangling over the venue for talks to stablise the ceasefire – the LTTE wants a European location, suggesting Norway, but Sri Lanka wants to hold talks in Asia.
“The debate … over the venue for reviewing the implementation of the ceasefire agreement hardly inspires confidence,” Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner said.
“The state of the ceasefire is so perilous that Sri Lanka can ill afford to waste time on talks about the venue for talks! For all who truly seek settlement through negotiation rather than war, surely they have more urgent priorities.”
“To reinvest in peace may seem today a most difficult and tortuous route but it is Sri Lanka’s only road to prosperity and stability in the long term. To turn to violence may appear to be the line of least resistance now but will prevent Sri Lanka from realising its economic potential, will cause massive human suffering again and ultimately will only delay the inevitable return to the negotiating table,” she said.
“The international community can offer help in form of trade and aid but cannot and should not seek to offer political solutions. Sri Lanka’s political future lies solely in the hands of Sri Lanka’s leaders themselves,” she pointed out.
However, Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner’s comments came soon after the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Jeffrey Lunstead, bluntly warned the LTTE that his government wanted the “cost of a return to war to be high.”
The US wanted it to be clear, if the Tigers chose to “abandon peace,” they will face a “stronger, more capable and more determined” Sri Lankan military, he said.
Sri Lanka is at a tricky point in its history, the US Ambassador said, adding that it was not clear “if Sri Lanka was at a crossroads, or at a cliff’s edge.”
The United States wants to remain committed to the peace process in Sri Lanka, and in helping the “legitimate governing bodies of Sri Lanka to prepare for their roles in developing and protecting their citizens,” Mr. Lunstead also said.
Condoleeza Rice, the US secretary of state, told Sri Lanka’s visiting foreign minister last week that Washington, which like Britain has proscribed the Tigers as a terrorist organisation, viewed the conflict as another front in the global “war on terror”.
Ms Rice also “expressed concern over the recent upsurge in violence ... and lauded the Sri Lankan government’s restraint in the face of Tamil Tiger provocations”, a spokesman said.
Last week Amnesty International also expressed concern over the spreading violence and rights abuses, and appealed “to all parties to halt the killings, abductions and “disappearances” being reported daily from the north and east of Sri Lanka.”
“The deteriorating security situation will also drastically effect aid and relief operations to those displaced by the tsunami and by years of conflict who see no hope of returning to their homes,” Amnesty said.
The February 2002 Norwegian-brokered cease-fire between the Tamil Tigers and the government is under severe strain as a two year old shadow war between Army-backed paramilitaries and the LTTE escalates.
The United Nations’ Secretary General, Kofi Annan, Tuesday warned, like many others, that civilians face enormous suffering if Sri Lanka’s protracted civil war as to erupt again.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York that Mr. Annan was concerned about quickly deteriorating security situation in the tropical island.
Dujarric said the cease-fire was under “severe strain” and that the latest fighting is “once again being felt by the civilian population.”
Annan “strongly urges the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to shore up the cease-fire, ensure respect for the human rights of all Sri Lankans, and urgently resume their dialogue under the facilitation of the Norwegian government,” Dujarric said Monday.
He was echoing a strongly worded warning from international monitors supervising the truce. Last Friday the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) “killings and serious attacks continue and the situation is getting worse. It is our assessment that if the Parties don’t react immediately they risk going back to war.”
The World Bank added its voice to the mounting concerns with the Country Director warning that assistance provided by the international lending agency could see a dent if there was no immediate improvement.
WB Country Head Peter Harrold told the Daily Mirror the level of World Bank assistance in its country assistance strategy depended heavily on the progress of the peace process.
“Conflict reduces the effectiveness of development assistance; it raises the poverty level of conflict affected people and destroys the assets that development assistance has previously provided,” he said, adding that he hoped the upcoming visit of Norwegian Minister and special envoy Erik Solheim would facilitate the process for government and the LTTE to return to the negotiating table.
The European Union also expressed similar fears with visiting EU Commissioner for External Relations, Mrs Benita Ferrero-Waldner, saying: “it is imperative that the government, other political parties and the Tamil Tigers heed the call of the people and join hands to arrest the spread of violence prevailing in the north and in the east.”
“It would quite simply be a tragedy if the various leaders involved failed to meet this basic demand of the people,”
She strongly criticised both sides for wrangling over the venue for talks to stablise the ceasefire – the LTTE wants a European location, suggesting Norway, but Sri Lanka wants to hold talks in Asia.
“The debate … over the venue for reviewing the implementation of the ceasefire agreement hardly inspires confidence,” Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner said.
“The state of the ceasefire is so perilous that Sri Lanka can ill afford to waste time on talks about the venue for talks! For all who truly seek settlement through negotiation rather than war, surely they have more urgent priorities.”
“To reinvest in peace may seem today a most difficult and tortuous route but it is Sri Lanka’s only road to prosperity and stability in the long term. To turn to violence may appear to be the line of least resistance now but will prevent Sri Lanka from realising its economic potential, will cause massive human suffering again and ultimately will only delay the inevitable return to the negotiating table,” she said.
“The international community can offer help in form of trade and aid but cannot and should not seek to offer political solutions. Sri Lanka’s political future lies solely in the hands of Sri Lanka’s leaders themselves,” she pointed out.
However, Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner’s comments came soon after the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Jeffrey Lunstead, bluntly warned the LTTE that his government wanted the “cost of a return to war to be high.”
The US wanted it to be clear, if the Tigers chose to “abandon peace,” they will face a “stronger, more capable and more determined” Sri Lankan military, he said.
Sri Lanka is at a tricky point in its history, the US Ambassador said, adding that it was not clear “if Sri Lanka was at a crossroads, or at a cliff’s edge.”
The United States wants to remain committed to the peace process in Sri Lanka, and in helping the “legitimate governing bodies of Sri Lanka to prepare for their roles in developing and protecting their citizens,” Mr. Lunstead also said.
Condoleeza Rice, the US secretary of state, told Sri Lanka’s visiting foreign minister last week that Washington, which like Britain has proscribed the Tigers as a terrorist organisation, viewed the conflict as another front in the global “war on terror”.
Ms Rice also “expressed concern over the recent upsurge in violence ... and lauded the Sri Lankan government’s restraint in the face of Tamil Tiger provocations”, a spokesman said.
Last week Amnesty International also expressed concern over the spreading violence and rights abuses, and appealed “to all parties to halt the killings, abductions and “disappearances” being reported daily from the north and east of Sri Lanka.”
“The deteriorating security situation will also drastically effect aid and relief operations to those displaced by the tsunami and by years of conflict who see no hope of returning to their homes,” Amnesty said.
