Sri Lanka’s Official Languages Commission has reported that there are far too few Tamil speakers in government service and has suggested measures to correct the glaring imbalance.

The Tamil-speaking population in Sri Lanka comprises Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian Origin Tamils and Muslims. Together they are 26 per cent of the island’s population.

But in the 900,000-strong public service, Tamil-speakers are just 8.3 per cent. The rest are Sinhala-speakers.

Out of the 36,031 employees in the Police Department, 231 are Tamils and 246 are Muslims.

Since Sri Lankan Muslims are also Tamil speaking, the total number of Tamil speakers in this vital department is just 477.

Wellawatte, a suburb of Colombo, is an overwhelmingly Tamil area, with 21,417 of its residents out of a total population of 29,302, being Tamil speaking. But in the Wellawatte police station, out of the 156 personnel, only 6 are Tamil speaking.

The Sri Lankan armed forces are also almost completely Sinhala or Sinhala speaking. The few Tamil-speaking personnel there are Muslims, rather than Tamils as such.

There is a such a shortage of Tamil-speaking senior and competent officers that in the predominantly Tamil-speaking North Eastern districts, officers are asked to stay on after retirement.

There are Government Agents and Assistant Government Agents (counterparts of the Indian District Collectors) who keep serving well past their official retirement age.

There are only 166 official translators in Sri Lanka. And out of these, only 58 are Tamil-speaking.

But translators are required in large numbers because of the existence of a massive linguistic barrier in the country.

In the Sri Lankan school system, Sinhalas learn through the Sinhala medium, and Tamils through the Tamil medium. This is so even in the universities. Very little English is taught, if at all, at any stage.

This is the reason for the massive linguistic barrier between the two major communities in Sri Lanka, a barrier which has added to the distance between them since independence in 1948.

Speaking to Hindustan Times on the state of affairs, the Chairman of the Official Languages Commission, Raja Collure, said: “Successive governments have failed to implement the constitutional provision in regard to the use of Tamil as the second official language.”

This is regrettable especially in view of the fact that Tamil had been made the second official language of the country, through the 13th amendment, 18 years ago, following the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of July 1987.

No concern.

At that time, it was presumed that the acceptance of Tamil as an official language would automatically lead to the recruitment of more Tamils and that there would be no glaring ethnic imbalances.

But Tamil has been an official language “only in name” as The Sunday Times put it. Recruitment of Tamil-speakers, especially ethnic Tamils, has been abysmally low.

If at all the state wanted to remedy the situation, it was only in respect of the use of the Tamil language in official work. The accent was not on the recruitment of more Tamils or Tamil-speakers.

In the latter part of the 1990s, President Chandrika Kumaratunga tried to introduce an ‘Equal Opportunities Bill’ to redress the linguistic and ethnic minorities’ grievances in regard to employment. The statistics brought out by it were telling.

Notwithstanding the powerful case made out for such a bill, it raised a storm of protest among the Sinhala majority, which considered ethnic, linguistic and religious reservations as undermining the unity of Sri Lanka and its destiny as a Sinhala-Buddhist country.

However, there has never been any vocal opposition to the greater use of Tamil in official work. Governments could thus move on this matter more easily.

Commission set up

Following a parliamentary enactment in 1991, an Official Languages Commission was set up to oversee and monitor the use of Tamil across the island.

The commission, headed by the veteran communist leader, Raja Collure, began working in 1994. In June 2005, it gave a comprehensive report on the state of affairs and submitted its recommendations to remedy the situation.

Detailing the recommendations, Collure said that the commission favoured immediate steps to recruit more Tamil-speakers.

But he was aware that this could run into trouble with the Constitution which did not allow recruitment to the public service on a communal basis.

“But some way has to be found to take more Tamil speakers immediately,” Collure said.

Simultaneously, steps should be taken to teach Tamil to non-Tamil public servants. Either they should have a working knowledge at the time of recruitment, or they should become bilingual within a specified time frame, he said.

The Department of Official Languages should be turned into an institute with branches in all districts to train officials and others in Sinhala and Tamil. The universities should be asked to organise diploma courses.

At the high school level, both Sinhala and Tamil should be made compulsory so that in 12 to 15 years’ time, Sri Lanka would have a large group of people knowing both the languages, Collure said.

Showing the Mahinda Rajapaksa government’s interest in solving the ethnic conflict by promoting inter-ethnic relations, Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Minister DEW Gunasekara recently announced that every public servant would be taught both Sinhala and Tamil.

But as an observer put it, unless bilingual ability is made compulsory at the time of recruitment, the government’s plans may go awry. He recommended the way IAS probationers in India are made to learn the language of the state they are assigned.

Norway’s confirmation this week that negotiations between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka government will indeed take place in Geneva on February 22-23 has ended concerns that the abduction last week of several aid workers of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) would derail the latest attempt to resume the peace process. Seven TRO workers are still missing after being abducted by Army-backed paramilitaries. The LTTE had, quite rightly, declared it would reconsider its participation in talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government. But the government’s response to the kidnappings reveals the depth of acrimony between the two protagonists and, also, the chasm between the island’s communities. Colombo immediately and flatly denied its military was involved and then accused the LTTE of stage managing the incidents to legitimize an avoidance of talks (even though the accounts of the TRO workers who were left behind and the three who have been released provide incontrovertible evidence that Army-backed paramilitaries are responsible). Outlining their rational for going to Geneva anyway, LTTE officials this week pointed out that the bedrock of any peace process is a credible cessation of hostilities. Indeed, the issues being raised by the LTTE as its prime concern – the normalization aspects of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA), for example, – are the immediate concern of the Tamil community at large.

Hectic preparations are underway for the talks. The government’s delegation is this week in discussions with American negotiation experts to map put out its strategy for the forthcoming talks. Interestingly, political aspects – including federalism – are reportedly being explored. But both protagonists and the facilitators have publicly been asserting that the forthcoming talks would focus on implementation of the CFA. Perhaps, as during the previous round of talks, Sri Lanka hopes to depart from discussing the day-to-day difficulties of the Tamil people and to engage in a drawn out discussion on ‘core issues.’ No doubt some of Sri Lanka’s allies will prefer that too. But it should not be forgotten that the collapse of all previous peace processes are linked in one way or another to the unstable and difficult circumstances in which most Tamils find themselves and the peace process does not change. The LTTE has always argued that negotiations should proceed on a stage-by-stage basis, with the day-to-day difficulties of the Tamils – particularly the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced – being resolved first. Only then, the LTTE quite rightly argues, can a long term political solutions be arrived at - a point that escapes advocates of civil society participation in Sri Lanka’s peace process.

Contrary to some views, also, agreement on a long-term political solution is not the answer to the immediate difficulties bedeviling the Northeast. What is required first is the normalization of civilian life, not a hurried rush to core issues. The LTTE’s insistence that talks must focus on the implementation of the CFA is not, therefore, some dogmatic aversion to discussing core issues - as its opponents suggest it is - but an acknowledgement of today’s dangerous reality. Furthermore, the peace process has regressed significantly from the optimistic circumstances of 2002. The seeds for the decline were sowed even then, as the rush – without full implementation of the CFA as insisted on by the LTTE - to talks and then to talks on federalism resulted in an edifice built on loose sand – the distinct lack of normalcy and no drivers to produce it, save the distant target of a constitutional framework.

Meanwhile, the notion that the LTTE would inherently seek to avoid peace talks stems from the same prejudice that, irrespective of the major governmental transformations the LTTE has undergone in the past decade, continues to view the organization as an incorrigible and menacing threat to peace. This is the Sinhala nationalist position. It is also, to the detriment of the peace process, the view of sections of the international state and non-state community. By opting to frame the LTTE as a malevolent hegemon in Tamil politics instead of a vehicle for frustrated Tamil political aspirations, these observers have not only failed to contribute to a meaningful solution, but have, over the years, helped exacerbate the ethnic problem. Until this attitude changes there can be no peace as it will continue to assist and embolden the Sinhala-dominated state and undermine efforts at peacemaking. The Tamil community has for decades now been lobbying and pleading with international actors for support against Sri Lanka’s chauvinism. The question for the Tamils is whether they should continue to engage with actors whose prejudice against our liberation struggle is so deep seated as to be unassailable. They will not help, but only hinder. We may go further by concentrating our efforts elsewhere.

For years, Scandinavian countries have been among the most generous with aid to the Muslim world, but that generosity has stood for little in the scandal over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

In the past week, Scandinavian embassies have been set ablaze in Syria and Lebanon and bans have been put on Danish exports, creating a row that threatens to unravel the substantial goodwill Scandinavia had in the Middle East.

Despite the vast contributions Nordic countries have made, analysts suspect Denmark''s heavy-handed approach to immigrants may be one reason behind the Muslim backlash. And they worry that it could take a long time for reputations to recover.

That''s bad for Scandinavia, but it may also be bad for aid recipients such as the Palestinians, just as they face a crunch over funding following militant group Hamas''s election victory.

"The general perception in the Arab world of the Nordic countries as tolerant and generous has suffered a huge blow," said Ole Woehlers Olsen, a senior advisor at the Danish Institute for International Studies.

The region''s reputation for generosity was not undeserved. Norway brokered the Oslo accord between Israel and the Palestinians in the early 1990s; Norway and Sweden are the top single donors of aid to the Palestinians after the United States; and Denmark launched an "Arab initiative" in 2003 to promote understanding. Its presidency of the European Union helped set up the "roadmap" for Middle East peace.

Denmark, where the cartoons were first published, has been the focus of anger.

Jyllands-Posten, a conservative paper in a country whose government won power partly by making it tougher for immigrants to get in, commissioned the cartoons for a debate on whether it was acceptable to censor the media to avoid offending Muslims, thereby giving Muslims special treatment.

Later published in a small Christian paper in Norway and now in papers all over Europe and beyond, the cartoons snowballed from a local debate about censorship to a global row about free speech and relations between the West and the Muslim world.

"It was not a deliberate provocation by Jyllands-Posten. It was thoughtlessness based on ignorance about the fact that it would hurt a lot of people," said Olsen.

But the suspicion that it was an act of provocation is hard to dispel because of the political context in Denmark, where the center-right government has flexed its muscles on immigration, even restricting the entry of foreigners married to Danes.

Sweden has tried to show solidarity with Denmark while distancing itself from the cartoon row itself and stressing the role its foreign aid agency SIDA plays in the Middle East.

The world is facing an "unprecedented global jobs crisis of mammoth proportions", the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a statement issued for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place in Davos last month.

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia hailed the decision of the WEF to place on its 2006 agenda an item on creating future jobs, and urged the world''s top business and government leaders attending the Forum to consider urgent steps for tackling a worsening global jobs situation.

The ILO Director-General said the global jobs crisis was illustrated by a number of factors: half of all the workers in the world - some 1.4 billion working poor - currently live in families that survive on less than US$ 2 a day per person. They work in the vast informal sector - from farms to fishing, from agriculture to urban alleyways - without benefits, social security or health care.

Unemployment in terms of actual people out of work is at its highest point ever and continues to rise. In the last ten years, official unemployment has grown by more than 25 per cent and now stands at nearly 192 million worldwide, or about 6 per cent of the global workforce.

Mr. Somavia warned that the global jobs crisis was a growing concern in terms of its impact on markets and incomes, and a threat to the credibility of democracies around the world. He noted that putting job creation, global employment, new skill development and labour mobility on the WEF agenda marked a major step forward in raising awareness among world leaders of the urgency of this issue.

Mr. Somavia said this "opportunity gap" took a heavy toll on the lives of women and men and their families, not only because it meant that millions of people might not have enough or even any income, but also because having decent work affects people''s dignity, their sense of self worth and the stability of their families.

"Decent work is at the heart of the economic and social concerns of all people", Mr. Somavia said.

Iraq’s Sunni Arabs have formed their own militia to counter Shi''ite and Kurdish forces as part of an attempt to regain influence they lost after Saddam Hussein was toppled.

The so-called "Anbar Revolutionaries" have emerged from a split in the anti-U.S. insurgency, which included al Qaeda.

They are a new addition to a network of militias that have thrived in Iraq''s bloody chaos and are tied to the country''s leading ethnic and political parties, now negotiating the formation of a coalition government after the December 15 election, the second such polls since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The newly-organized militia is made up mostly of Saddam loyalists, Iraqi Islamists and other nationalists leading an insurgency against U.S. and Iraqi government forces.

Sunni officials said Sunni rebels first decided to reorganize their forces into a militia after their tactical alliance with al Qaeda, who are also Sunnis, unraveled when al Qaeda bombs began killing fellow Sunnis in recent months.

But a key motive behind the militia''s emergence is to have a force on the ground to confront the Shi''ite Badr Brigades, whom the Sunnis accuse of killing and torturing members of their sect in death squads sanctioned by the government, the officials added.

"The Anbar Revolutionaries are here to stay, we need them to protect the people," one Sunni Arab official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

"Sunnis do not have the Shi''ite Badr (Brigades) or the Kurdish peshmerga (militia). In these times when sectarian tension is high, such a force is needed."

The Anbar Revolutionaries are likely to further hamper the Iraqi government''s effort to impose its authority and curb rising sectarian strife between Shi''ites, Sunnis and Kurds.

A government source said although the original aim of the force was to fight al Qaeda, it was hard to predict how it would develop.

Sunni officials familiar with the militia say its numbers are in the hundreds and it will be used for "defensive" purposes only.

But that may be idealistic as more and more Iraqis are bombed, shot and beheaded for belonging to one Islamic sect or the other.

Sunni Arabs, once dominant under Saddam, watched Shi''ites and Kurds sweep to power when the Sunnis boycotted last January''s election. But Sunni political fortunes improved after they won seats in parliament in the latest vote.

While fighting for cabinet positions, Sunnis have embarked simultaneously on a strategy of loosening the grip of the much larger Badr Brigades, and to a lesser extent the Kurdish peshmergas, in a country where militias often blend in with the security forces.

Badr officials and the government deny the Sunni accusations, and the authorities have vowed to investigate abuses in the battle against a Sunni insurgency that has killed thousands of Iraqi security forces and mostly Shi''ite civilians.

The group has changed its name to the Badr Organization but Iraqis still refer to it as the Badr Brigades, after the Iranian-trained fighters who turned on Saddam Hussein''s army in his 1980-88 war with Iran and returned as a dominant force after his ousting.

Aside from giving Sunnis more power, the new militia will have a more formal structure than existing insurgent forces including al Qaeda, and could be easier for U.S. and Iraqi officials to talk to.

"Tribal leaders and political figures found that al Qaeda''s program is harming the political efforts and progress the Sunni political leaders are making, because al Qaeda rejects all politics," said Hazem Naimi, a political science professor.

While rival forces have built their militias, successive U.S.-backed governments have struggled to create effective state security forces.

U.S. officials would ultimately like to see all militias disbanded. Kurdish President Jalal Talabani has said the militias could help fight insurgents. Shi''ite leaders avoid the subject.

The Anbar Revolutionaries are being built up as diplomats say U.S. officials are shifting favor from Iraq''s pro-Iranian Shi''ite leaders to Sunnis because of Tehran''s nuclear ambitions.

That could give Sunnis more clout as the Badr Brigades, believed to command up to 10,000 fighters, continue to operate as a semi-official force speeding through Baghdad on police vehicles in military uniforms.

"Sunnis feel that the Shi''ites have taken over the government and now it is their state," said Naimi. "The Badr Brigades are in the interior ministry and under the interior ministry''s name they go to towns, kill and arrest."

Even as pressure mounted on Hamas, one of the militant group’s top official said it will not recognize Israel but will abide, for now, by past agreements Palestinian leaders made with the Jewish state.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, the right-hand man to Hamas'' political leader Khaled Mashaal, declared his position as Hamas leaders from Syria and Palestinian areas gathered in Egypt and began talks Monday with Egyptian officials after the group''s stunning election victory.

The United States wants other nations to cut off aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian government and the UN Security Council told the Islamic militant group on Friday that a future Palestinian government must recognize Israel and commit itself to a negotiated settlement of the Mideast conflict culminating in two independent states living in peace.

However, the Security Council congratulated the Palestinian people "on an electoral process that was free, fair and secure."

Abu Marzouk Monday also lashed out at the defeated, more moderate Fatah party for refusing to participate in a national unity Palestinian government, which Hamas wants to form to avoid an Israeli veto on it.

"We will act in the legal framework to get out from this deadlock, which our brothers in Fatah have put us in," Abu Marzouk told reporters late Sunday.

Abu Marzouk said any government set up by Hamas "will not make security arrangements with Israeli or hand over (Palestinians) who fire rockets (on Israel)." He also insisted the group would not recognize Israel.

Hamas is under growing international pressure to renounce violence and recognize Israel''s right to exist as a condition for receiving millions of dollars in foreign aid - the lifeline of the Palestinian economy. Western powers have said they will not fund a Hamas-led Palestinian government otherwise.

"The United States is not prepared to fund an organization that advocates the destruction of Israel, that advocates violence and that refuses its obligations," under an international framework for eventual Mideast peace, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last week.

Rice met other members of the so-called Quartet of would-be Mideast peacemakers last week. The group, which includes the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, is already on record as saying "there is a fundamental contradiction between armed group and militia activities and the building of a democratic state."

In Gaza meanwhile, a Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, called on the international community to continue funding the Palestinian Authority.

"We assure you that all the revenues will be spent on salaries, daily life and infrastructure," he said at a news conference, addressing international concerns that aid would be used to fund violence.

Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman said last week that Egypt intends to tell Hamas leaders that they must recognize Israel, disarm and honor past peace deals.

The leaders are executed to meet later with senior Egyptian officials, including Suleiman and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Omar Suleiman.

Before the leaders started their meetings at a Cairo hotel, Abu Marzouk acknowledged that the movement faces difficulties in its attempts to set up a government.

"The most daunting task we face is to recognize the Zionist enemy and the obligations which the Authority had in the absence of similar (Israeli) obligations," he said.

Marzouk said Hamas officials had met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah''s leader, and that Abbas did not insist that Hamas had to recognize Israel or make other concessions before Fatah would negotiate a deal to form the next Palestinian government.

Speaking of past peace deals between the Palestinians and Israel, Marzouk told reporters: "There is no authority that inherits another authority without abiding by the agreements already made. But the other party also should be committed to the agreements."

He said Hamas would review all past deals.

"If the agreements contradict logic and rights, there are legal measures to be taken ... there are no eternal agreements," he said.

Israel''s acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said Monday he will work with Abbas as long as he does not join forces with Hamas. Olmert also said Israel would continue transferring monthly tax payments to the Palestinian Authority as long as Hamas was not in control.

Israel also agreed Sunday to transfer $54 million (euro45 million) in desperately needed tax money to the Palestinian Authority. Israel''s monthly transfer of the taxes and customs duties it collects on behalf of the Palestinians is crucial to the functioning of the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli Cabinet decided to transfer the money because Hamas was not yet in the government, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said.

India’s Air Force Chief, said last week his country is ever ready to help Sri Lanka and Colombo can be assured of its support under ‘any urgent circumstance’ press reports said.

“As Sri Lanka’s neighbour, the Indian Air Force is ready to give its fullest support to Sri Lanka because of our cordial relations,” Air Chief Marshal S. P. Tyagi told a news conference after meeting with Chief of Defence Staff Daya Sandagiri.

Explaining the purpose of his five-day visit, Air Chief Marshal Tyagi said: “The visit had been planned a few months ago and we friends have to see each other. Our previous Commanders also followed this policy and I am here to continue their tradition.”

Earlier the Air Force Headquarters described the Indian Air Chief’s visit as a “goodwill trip” aimed at strengthening bilateral and defence ties and also to discuss the training programme between the two forces.

Sri Lanka’s military arranged for Air Marshal Thiyagi to visit “several air force bases in Sri Lanka and also places of religious and historical importance in Kandy and Anuradhapura.”

Air Marshal Thiyagi met Sri Lanka Air Force Commander Donald Perera, Army Commander Sarath Fonseka and Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda for discussions.

During his trip, he also met with President Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremasinghe and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Kotabaya Rajapakse.

In December 2005, the Indian General Officer Commander-in-Chief of Southern Command, Lt. Gen. B.S. Thakker, paid a visit to Sri Lanka. Thakker also visited the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) front lines in Vavuniya.

Thakker''s visit to Sri Lanka was followed by the visit by Vice Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Commander in Chief of the Indian Navys Eastern Naval Command between 12 and 16 December.

Although a defense co-operation agreement between India and Sri Lanka mooted in 2003 is yet to be finalized, the two countries have extensive military links.

The Indian Air Force was engaged in Delhi’s efforts to disarm the Tamil Tigers from July 1987 to March 1990. Some 70,000 aircraft sorties were carried out by the Indian Air Force.

The World Bank funded North East Housing Reconstruction Programme (NEHRP) has commenced the second phase reconstruction of 13000 houses for the war victim families in the NorthEast.

NEHRP officials have started distributing forms to collect necessary data to select qualified beneficiaries affected by the decades-old war in the province to be included in the second phase, the NEHRP said.

During the first phase launched in 2005, 3079 were completed of the 4904 houses selected for reconstruction work. (309 in Amparai, 501 in Batticaloa, 666 in Trincomalee 295 in Vavuniya, 484 in Mannar, 501 in Killinochchi, 513 inMullaitivu and 1635 in Jaffna at district level).

The reconstruction of remaining 1195 houses would be completed during February this year, NEHRP added in the press release.

Before the launch of the housing reconstruction programme last year, the survey of the NEHRP revealed that about 326,000 houses in the NorthEast were destroyed in the war and about 172,000 people were living in welfare centers and refugee camps in the province. Of the ruined houses eighty five percent are located in the North East region, the survey revealed.

The World Bank has provided financial assistance to reconstruct a portion of the ruined houses in the North East after cease-fire agreement was signed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 22nd February 2002.

The World Bank then agreed to provide US Dollars 75 million to the NEHRP to reconstruct 31,270 houses, a portion of the war-destroyed houses in the eight administrative districts of Amparai, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Killinochchi and Jaffna in the North East.

A group of World Bank officials led by Mr.Naresh Duraiswamy recently visited the districts of Mannar, Vavuniya and Trincomalee and inspected the progress made in the first phase of housing reconstruction programme.

The Sri Lankan government’s dismissive response to complaints last week that several aid workers of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) have been kidnapped by Army-backed paramilitaries have sparked outraged amongst Tamils and have deepened acrimony ahead of negotiations with the Liberation Tigers.

Seven TRO staffers are still missing one week after they were intercepted and abducted whilst traveling in two separate groups in Sri Lanka’s volatile east. Three others who returned home after being released by the paramilitaries are being coerced by the police into denying reports of the abductions, reports said.

However the Sri Lankan government rejected involvement and suggested the incidents were being staged by the LTTE to avoid forthcoming talks in Geneva. The Tigers this week confirmed they would be attending the talks on February 22 and 23 on stabilizing the fraying ceasefire agreement.

And amid frantic appeals by the TRO and Tamil community groups to the international community to take up the matter with the Sri Lankan government, Colombo dismissed the TRO’s complaints as fabricated.

“It appears that a campaign of terror has been unleashed on TRO personnel in the NorthEast,” the charity said in a frantic statements issued Tuesday last week immediately after the abductions.

One group of five staffers - four personnel from the TRO’s Pre School Education Development Center (PSEDC) personnel and their driver – went missing last Tuesday.

Earlier, fifteen TRO staff members traveling from their Batticaloa office to Vavuniya for training were stopped by paramilitary personnel after the SLA checkpoint Welikanda, (Polunnaruwa District).

Five TRO members – all experienced aid workers - were dragged out and forced into the white van the others – recent recruits enroute for training - were assaulted and forced to turn back to Batticaloa.

The TRO says the staff disappeared in areas widely said to be strongholds of the Karuna group, a paramilitary group led by former Tiger commander Karuna Amman who defected to the Sri Lanka military in April 2004 following the collapse of his rebellion against the LTTE.

Since then several LTTE cadres and supporters, paramilitaries and security forces personnel have been killed in campaign by Karuna with the backing of the Army in what has come to be characterized as a ‘shadow war.’

In the past week there have been hartals (strike protests) and demonstrations in several parts of the Northeast and the Tamil media has bitterly criticized the government, warning that Colombo’s bona fides ahead of talks in Geneva this month are suspect.

The Uthayan, the mass circulation Jaffna based daily, in its editorial Monday warned of the potentially dangerous consequences of the attitude being displayed by the Sri Lankan Government insisting on its innocence and not taking urgent action to secure the release of the seven aid workers.

The UN agencies in Sri Lanka said they “deplore the reported abduction of 10 humanitarian aid workers.”

Pointing out the TRO was “an aid organization registered with the government,” the UN agencies noted: “These are humanitarian aid workers who devote their professional lives to serving those in need. Therefore, they have the right to respect and protection from harm.”

FORUT, a Norwegian non-Governmental Organizaton that works in Sri Lanka, this week joined the mainly Tamil clamour for action, saying it “condemns strongly the abduction of 10 aid workers from TRO.”

“Five of them were abducted on their way to a meeting organised by FORUT in Kilinochchi,” the NGO said. “They were on a mission to the Batticaloa District on behalf of the Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children Sri Lanka when they were abducted.”

Saying it condemns “any attack on aid workers, regardless of whether they are local or international,” FORUT demanded “all aid workers who are still not released should be released immediately, and that the Srilankan policy gives highest priority to the investigation of the abductions.”

However Sri Lanka’s government insists the military is without blame and questioned the veracity of the claims – even after three of the first group of abductees were released – first two and then another.

Criticising the TRO as an organisation “with links to the LTTE” Sri Lankan military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said last week reports of the abductions were false allegations meant to discredit the security forces.

When two women aid workers, against paramilitary warnings to be silent, went to file a police report at the insistence of government authorities, they were held at the Batticaloa Police station and forced to sign an unread statement, TRO officials said.

“They were not allowed to read the statement, but were asked to sign it and that their request for a copy of the statement was turned down,” TRO spokesman Arjunan Ethirweerasingam said.

“Colombo has placed the lives of the remaining 8 workers in danger by its failure to alert the state structures in a timely manner to secure the release of the workers,” he told reporters after the first two releases.

“Instead of co-operating with TRO officials and to work actively to resolve this urgent matter, Colombo is engaging in politically motivated disinformation campaign to discredit [us].”

The head of the TRO, Mr. K. P. Regi, told reporters that his staff are making arrangements to get the three released TRO workers to register complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC).

On Monday, the entire Batticaloa district observed a shut down protest against the abductions. The protest, called by the employees of local and foreign NGOs, who abstained from work, also drew support from private businesses and public services. Shops and banks remained closed. Public offices and schools were deserted.

Protestors burnt tires and blocked roads in several parts of Batticaloa District. Special Task Force (STF), Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers and Police intensified patrolling on the streets of Batticaloa town.

On Saturday Tamil residents in the districts of Trincomalee and Mannar observed a general shut down. The hartal on Sri Lanka’s Independence Day protested the wider harrasment of Tamils by the Sinhala-dominated security forces. On Thursday, there had been another demonstration by residents of Mannar and TRO workers in the western district.

Several civilians sustained minor injuries when STF troops opened fire at civilians observing hartal in Thirukovil area in Akkaraipattu last Friday against the abductions of the TRO staff.

Protesters burnt tyres and set up road blocks across the highway when STF opened fire for more than five minutes. Akkaraipattu, Thirukkovil, Tambiluvil and Pothuvil areas came to complete standstill.

Amid simmering anger, Tamil militia - which has claimed a string of lethal attacks against the Sri Lanka security forces in December and January - threatened to break off a self-imposed truce offered when Norway announced talks between Sri Lanka and the LTTE would take place this month.

Tamil media have warned that the threat by Tamil militia, which many say are linked to the LTTE, to attack the security forces should be taken seriously.

One group, ‘Upsurging People’s Force’, warned this weekend: ‘‘we cannot any more tolerate our people being killed and oppressed. It is no longer possible to be patient. Therefore we beg the international community and the Liberation Tigers to forgive us.”

“If the government maintains it has no connections to the suspects [in the abduction], the Tamils may be forced to handle the paramilitaries directly,” the Uthayan said. “In this context, we have to view the announcement made by the ‘Upsurging People’s Force’.”

This could kick start a spiral of violence that could undermine the talks in Geneva, the Uthayan said, expressing a concern shared by many.

Urging swift government action over the abductions, FORUT also cautioned this week “it is particularly important that this kind of criminal activity does not become a cause for revenge and escalation of violence in a situation where the ceasefire agreement is fragile.”

In a statement issued swiftly on reports of the abductions, the United States Embassy in Colombo said it was “concerned” and urged the government to “rapidly investigate these allegations.”

The US Embassy added “[we] again calls on all parties to exercise restraint and calm, especially in the run-up to the cease-fire talks in Geneva.”

Sri Lanka''s top international lenders bowed to pressure from Buddhist monks and Marxists supporting the government and cancelled a meeting with the Liberation Tigers last Friday.

The World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the meeting with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was "rescheduled" but did not give a new date.

The last minute cancellation was announced following a discussion between representatives of the World Bank, IMF, UNDP and ADB held Thursday evening at the Ministry of Finance in Colombo.

The National Heritage Party of Buddhist monks and the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peruamana (JVP) had protested against the proposed meet between top officials of the financial institutions with the Tigers.

The donors visit was effectively postponed at the eleventh hour following severe opposition in Colombo including a threat issued by the JVP propaganda secretary Wimal Weerawanse who said the minority government would face serious consequences if the Kilinochchi meeting took place, the Daily Mirror reported Tuesday.

Addressing a joint news conference in Colombo Monday World Bank country head Peter Harold and ADB’s permanent representative Alassandro Pio said the donors collectively decided after talks with the government that it was in the best interest of the Geneva talks that the visit to Kilinochchi was postponed.

Asked if JVP pressure was the main reason for the postponement Mr. Harold said it was just one of many concerns raised.

The monks and the Marxists argued that the donor meeting would have legitimised the Tigers and claimed it also violated an unofficial ban on top diplomats visiting the Tigers after the assassination of the Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August last year.

The Sinhala nationalists protested the donors proposed meeting “has a hidden significance aiming at attributing a fake validity to the rebel outfit prior to the proposed talks in Geneva.”

Asserting that it was the responsibility of the President to prevent such meeting from taking place, these parties have reportedly said, the donor agencies should talk to the government on any post-tsunami development programmes and not with the LTTE.

''The Heads of the agencies, after consultation with the government and the LTTE, have postponed their visit to the Kilinochchi. The visit will be rescheduled after the Geneva meeting later this month,'' a statement from the External Affairs of the World Bank

"Much hope rests on a successful outcome at the Geneva talks and the agencies did not want to undertake anything that might have a negative impact on the buildup to this event."

"A technical team has proceeded to (the LTTE-held) Kilinochchi to review impediments to implementation of ongoing tsunami and post conflict recovery programmes," the agencies said.

Meanwhile the heads of the WB and ADB told reporters Monday that the present unstable security situation in the east was a handicap for the pace of development work funded by the two lending agencies and that the upcoming talks in Geneva were vital in creating a more conducive environment for development.

Despite acrimony over the abduction of several Tamil aid workers by Army-backed paramilitaries, the Liberation Tigers will meet with the Sri Lankan government in Geneva this month for high-level Norwegian facilitated negotiations.

The announcement came hours after Norway’s International Development Minister, Mr. Erik Solheim, met with the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist, Mr. Anton Balasingham in London Monday.

Whilst both sides had two weeks ago ended a bitter standoff over the venue – Colombo insisting on an Asian location and the LTTE seeking talks in Oslo – by agreeing to Geneva, the abductions of several aid workers of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) by suspected Army-backed paramilitaries had cast doubts if the talks would proceed.

On Monday, formally announcing the protagonists’ decision to proceed, Norway’s Foreign Ministry said: “the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE have asked Norway to facilitate talks in Geneva from 22 to 23 February.”

This is the first time in three years that the parties meet face-to-face at such a high level.

But political issues are not on the agenda. Instead the talks will focus on four year ceasefire that has been strained almost to breaking point by a shadow war between Sri Lankan military intelligence and the LTTE.

A recent increase in violence has put the truce under particular strain. Since December at least 150 people have been killed, including 81 soldiers, sailors and police. Several civilians and some paramilitary and LTTE cadres have also died.

Aptly, the crucial talks this month come on the very anniversary of the signing of the truce agreement. “The parties will discuss how they can improve the implementation of the ceasefire agreement that was signed on 22 February 2002,” the Norwegian statement said.

Mr. Solheim, who is also Oslo’s Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, told reporters after the announcement the February talks are a significant step towards the restoration of the peace process.

"It is very positive that the parties have agreed to meet at a high level to discuss how to improve the serious security situation," Solheim said.

"The parties are taking a small but very significant step towards putting the peace process back on a positive track. And we expect the negotiations to be tough," underlined Mr. Solheim.

He said Norway would do its best to help the parties find a practical solution to relieve the pressure the cease-fire has come under.

Putting the dispute over the venue behind him, Mr. Solheim added: “The parties have chosen Geneva for their meeting because of the very supportive role Switzerland has always played in the peace process.”

Switzerland meanwhile said it “welcomes this decision and will do its utmost to ensure that the talks take place in an environment that is conducive to reaching a mutually acceptable solution.”

Referring obliquely to the tensions over the aid workers’ abductions, an official statement added: “In view of the events of the last few days, Switzerland calls on the parties to the conflict to do all within their powers to ensure that the talks can start in a constructive atmosphere.”

Mr. Solheim will lead the Norwegian delegation, which includes Norway’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Hans Brattskar and Mr. Vidar Helgesen, formerly a senior member of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. Mr. Helgesen oversaw six rounds of negotiations between the LTTE and the then Sri Lankan government from September 2002 to March 2003.

The head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), retired Norwegian General Harrup Haukland, will also be present at the talks. The Nordic staffed SLMM is tasked with overseeing the truce in the Northeast.

Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Mahinda Rajapakse had, during his election campaigns late last year, vowed to redraft the ceasefire. However the LTTE are resolutely opposed to changes in the agreement saying it is the implementation of the agreement, not its contents, that is problematic.

"The LTTE is not prepared to discuss modifications to the cease-fire or to push the cease-fire aside and waste time talking about a political solution," the Tigers reiterated in the latest editorial of their official organ ''Vuduthalaippulikal''.

Nonetheless, government officials are now taking a crash course in negotiating tactics and “the core issues of the island''s peace process” to prepare for talks, Reuters reported.

"We are going to have discussions with some experts about the issues to prepare for the talks," said government spokesman and Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, who will lead the government delegation at the talks said.

"The foundation for peace talks and the political solution has already been laid by the LTTE and the government of Sri Lanka. That foundation is the cease-fire agreement (CFA).

"The CFA was debated over a long period, modified by both parties, and eventually signed by both parties. It is only by implementing it properly the moves can be made towards the political solution," the ''Vuduthalaippulikal'' said.

The Tigers also repeated a warning that they would resume their struggle unless the government stopped backing paramilitary groups.

Sri Lanka’s North and East were calm on Tuesday despite tensions inflamed last week by the abductions of TRO aid workers, but many are uncertain.

"Today our lives are filled with lots of questions," 50-year-old teacher Francis Xavier, who works at a school in the northern Army-held enclave of Jaffna, told Reuters.

“If the first round ends well, then we have some hopes.”

Conservative leader Stephen Harper was sworn in Monday as Canada''s 22nd prime minister, 14 days after his party''s narrow victory in January’s general election which has paved the way for the country''s first Conservative government since 1993. Parliament would reconvene on April 3, he said.

"It is a great honour and a feeling of great responsibility to be sworn in as the 22nd prime minister of Canada," he said after the swearing-in ceremony at the Governor General''s official residence in Ottawa.

He named a 27-member cabinet, including himself, down from the 39 that outgoing Prime Minister and the Liberal leader Mr. Paul Martin named in 2004. The average age of the new cabinet is just under 51.

Out of his 27 ministers, nine are from Ontario, 10 from the West - including four from Alberta, four from B.C. and one each from Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Harper appointed three from the Atlantic provinces. Prince Edward Island was shut out from cabinet, having elected no Tory MPs. Harper also appointed five representatives from Quebec.

"I''ve assembled a smaller cabinet, but one I believe is more focused and more effective," said Harper, adding that the new ministers are "talented and diversified and reflect Canada."

There are six women in Harper''s cabinet, including Rona Ambrose and Bev Oda.

But opposition Leader Bill Graham says he''s concerned by a number of Conservative cabinet appointments, including unelected minister Michael Fortier and former Liberal David Emerson.

And in a stunning political defection, former Liberal industry minister David Emerson has abandoned the Liberals to join the new Conservative cabinet. The move, which recalled last year’s surprise defection of Tory Belinda Stronach to the Liberals, puts the former business executive in charge of another economic portfolio: international trade.

The addition of Mr. Emerson brings the Conservative Party''s total number of seats to 125.

Since the Jan. 23 election, some have suggested that the Conservatives'' best bet for governing with a minority would be to join forces with the NDP, which holds 29 seats.

With the 29 NDP seats, that puts the overall number at 154 — one short of the magic number need to ensure a piece of legislation passes in the face of opposition from the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois.

The Conservative minority government will search for common ground with other parties in the House, Mr. Harper said, promising that his highest priorities will be cleaning up government, cutting the goods and services tax, reducing health care waiting times, and implementing a family child-care allowance.

No leeway for Tamil teachers

Sri Lanka''s Commissioner General of Examinations Monday rejected an appeal made by the Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) to postpone the Limited Competitive Examination of Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service Class III scheduled to be held only in Colombo on February 11 for a later date and also to take immediate steps to hold the examination in the northeast province to make it easy for the Tamil medium candidates to take the exams.

CTTU appealed for the postponement of the examination as Tamil medium teachers and principals in the northeast have not prepared for the examination due to tense situation that prevailed in the province since December.

CTTU also made a case for holding the examination for NE applicants in the province itself as the current security situation in Colombo is not conducive for the teachers and principals to travel and find lodging facilities in the capital.

But the Department of Examinations said it is not in a position to postpone the examination and also to hold it for Tamil medium candidates in the northeast as necessary arrangement has been finalized to hold the examination in Colombo only.

About thirty thousand candidates are expected to sit for this examination, which is to be held on February 11 in Colombo.(TamilNet)

Vavuniya traders under fire

Traders of Vavuniya have become the target of intimidation by unidentified armed groups withthe anonymous callers using mobile phones demanding cash over the telephone, Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP said last week in an urgent letter to the Sri Lanka President Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse.

Traders who defy the extortionists, as well as their business establishments, have become targets for gunfire and grenade attacks the MP said. A few traders have already been killed recently, he added.

"Traders allege that the armed groups move about with the blessing of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, and point out that in Vavuniya, where many security points line the streets, armed outsiders cannot move about without the knowledge of soldiers manning the checkpoints," said Mr.Adaikalanathan.

“Traders have complained that they have no other alterative but to shut down their shops indefinitely if this intimidation is allowed to continue,” he said.

“Hence I appeal to Your Excellency to take immediate action to bring an end to these atrocities so that these traders could continue their trade peacefully without any fear and hindrance," said Mr. Adaikalanathan in his letter.

USAID funds federalism seminar

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), held a symposium Monday titled "The future of Sri Lanka and the federal idea," engaging more than 500 participants in a discussion on the history of the country''s conflict, past attempts at negotiated settlements, and the basic facts about devolution of power and federalism.

The symposium at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Center was the culmination of a series of grass roots-level workshops facilitated by CPA that involved more than 25 community groups and was funded through a grant from the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives.

USAID said it hopes to establish a core group of trained and informed key community leaders who can transfer their knowledge to the public at large, on the basis that improving community awareness of federalism as a model of power sharing could help provide a solution to the Sri Lankan conflict.

"Federalism is one model for a non-violent solution,” U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jeffrey J. Lunstead said at the opening, adding, however, “the United States has no desire to tell Sri Lanka how to run its country or what kind of model to adopt.”

The symposium was organized in response to the widely held view that a dearth of information exists at all levels about the process of federalism and its implications for Sri Lankans, as well as some of the other core issues under discussion and debate.

"Educating and informing the public at large about this concept will allow them to participate more knowledgeably, and confidently, in this important conversation," USAID Mission Director Dr. Carol Becker said.

SLMC blames police partiality for violence

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has requested President Mahinda Rajapakse to appoint a Presidential Commission to inquire into the conduct of the Police in the violence that took place in Dharga Nagar in southern district of Aluthgama.

Mr. Rauff Hakim, SLMC leader, alleged that the partiality of the Police had contributed to the escalation of the violence against the Muslim people in the area, sources said.

Several shops of Muslims were burnt and properties damaged in the violence. Goons in the presence of the policemen set fire to Muslim business establishments while the curfew was in force. Police were also involved in looting those shops, residents allege.

A police officer in the traffic unit had spread a false rumour that a Sinhalese was killed by a Muslim person and Muslim people were preparing inside a mosque to attack Sinhalese. This contributed to the escalation of the violence between the two communities, according to locals.

Policemen had failed to discharge their duties impartially and the government should take the full responsibility for the violence, Mr. Hakeem said speaking in parliament on Wednesday in the debate on the Bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Code.(TamilNet)

Plastic containers and bags to be banned

The Health Ministry plans to obtain Cabinet approval to ban the manufacture and the use of polythene and plastic containers to arrest the growing number of dengue cases in the country.

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has directed Epidemiology Unit Director General Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe to draft the Cabinet Memorandum in this regard because the use of such disposable items including ice cream, yoghurt cups and containers had become ideal mosquito breeding grounds.

A Ministry official said that 15,463 dengue patients had been reported in 2004 of whom 88 died.

In 2005, this number had dropped to 5,211 cases with 26 deaths. However in January alone this year 698 dengue cases with one death were reported.
A ban on manufacturing and use of such disposable plastic items has also been recommended in the five- year programme to eradicate dengue fever from the country.

The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry maintains that deficiencies in the disposal of garbage including used plastic containers and cans have contributed to the spread of dengue in the country.(Daily Mirror)

HIV/AIDS under control – minister

Sri Lanka has succeeded in controlling and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country and the global programme by the UNAIDS has commended the measures taken in this regard, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva said.

The current rate of prevalence of HIV/AIDS patients in Sri Lanka is 0.03 per cent, which is considered low compared to global trends, and the number of patients registered with HIV stands at 712 while the estimated number of virus carriers is around 3,500, he said.

With the detection of the first HIV/AIDS patient in Sri Lanka in early 1980’s, the World Health Organization initiated an awareness campaign and formulated a short term plan to screen blood donors with the introduction of test kits and training of laboratory technicians.

A national HIV/AIDS prevention project was launched with the aim to support the National STD/AIDS Control Programme of the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition to curb the spread of HIV infection which work towards achieving its goals.

The Minister pointed out that educating the youth and school children is vital in prevention the spread of the disease.

According to 2005 estimates, there are 5,100 people living with HIV/AIDS and over 100 are children under 15. The number of deaths during 2005 were 140.(The Island)

The agreement by the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to discuss the implementation of the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) in Geneva this month, is a laudable step forward towards peace which has been widely welcomed by the international community. However, upon being congratulated on broking last week’s agreement deal, Erik Solheim, Norwegian International Development Minister, is said to have retorted that the real challenges are still to come. He is quite right.

Mr. Solheim’s extensive experience Special Envoy to Sri Lanka has equipped him well to recognize the obstacles that lie ahead. His successful facilitation to date has ensured the hard-line coalition government of President Mahinda Rajapakse has come to the negotiating table, despite its popular mandate from the South to adopt an uncompromising position on the ethnic issue and on dealing with the LTTE.

The coalition comprising President Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the Sinhala-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Buddhist hardline party, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), had promised, amongst other hardline positions on the thnic question to renegotiate the ‘flawed’ CFA, to ensure that future peace talks took place in Sri Lanka and oust the Royal Norwegian Government from its role as facilitator to the peace process.

By agreeing to discuss the implementation of the CFA in Geneva under Norwegian facilitation, President Rajapakse now reneged on all three election pledges. But this substantial deviation away from the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government’s electoral mandate will in all likelihood add to the complications of delivering on any future agreements, notwithstanding that all concerned actors are presently focused upon more urgent necessity of de-escalating the spiralling violence in the Northeast.

The JHU, the smallest of the main Sinhala hard-line parties, has thus far been the only one to protest the Geneva talks. But despite the JHU’s vociferous protests, the UPFA government has inched ahead with engaging the LTTE.

Conversely, the JVP has observed a studied silence on the Geneva talks but since the formation of the new UPFA cabinet, the Marxist party has voiced its dissatisfaction with the government reneging on its election pledges. In its bid to maintain a distance from the government, the JVP has desisted from accepting ministerial portfolios. The JVP has always been careful to avoid being sullied by any compromises and surrenders that the government of the day makes. In June 2005, for example, the JVP withdrew from the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga in protest over her signing the tsunami aid sharing deal (P-TOMS) with the LTTE. It is on the back of such principled positions that the JVP’s political standing has grown exponentially over the past decade.

Furthermore, whilst in power, it has– despite the best efforts of its detractors - ensured that it is not associated with the various corruption scandals that have riddled Sri Lankan politics. This and its track record of acting against moves by various administrations in Colombo that make any substantial concessions to the ‘terrorism’ (the most recent example being the agreement of the P-TOMS), have also reinforced its creditability within the Southern electorate as a party which is sincere in pursuing its stated objectives.

Unlike the JHU, the JVP has serious and real ambitions to form a functioning, one-party government in the coming years. Its grass roots campaigning have resulted in a rate of growth which suggests its objectives are realistic. The party’s silence over the Geneva peace talks are a sign of its grasp of the responsibilities of governance.

Upon forming the new UPFA government, the JVP egged President Rajapakse on to dump the Norwegian facilitators. With New Delhi rejecting the JVP’s plans to eject the Norwegians and provide the necessary military backing, the organisation toned down its right-wing rhetoric and reassessed its options. The government has undoubtedly been advised by the new military commanders it has appointed that the armed forces are not yet ready for a new war. Unlike, the JHU, the JVP had the clout to prevent the Geneva negotiations, but to do so may have prematurely invited a conflict upon an unprepared military. Such a blunder would have dented the party’s substantial credibility as potential governors, particularly if the war goes badly. Instead the JVP is keeping a clear distance from the proceedings, ensuring the President Rajapakse takes all the blame for the humiliating policy reversals the UPFA government is making.

The JVP’s short-term objectives are to ensure it is not tarred by any agreements Rajapakse makes with the Tigers. It has, ironically, also successfully regained some credibility amongst the international community, who were doubtless bracing themselves for its fiery protests.

But in the medium term the JVP and its ilk have a variety of options to prevent any deals which are contrary to its state principles. The most obvious is its ability to bring down the minority government should it give too much away to the Tigers and thereby ensure fresh elections where the JVP may, as unsullied champions of Sinhala interests, expand its position.

Another obvious avenue is to challenge the constitutional validity of any agreements entered by the government with the LTTE through the Supreme Court - as exemplified by the successful torpedoing of the P-TOMS last year.

The final layer of defence is the of course JVP’s ability to mobilise popular support for its hardline policies amongst southern voters into a rejection of any deal with the Tigers at a referendum – which no Sinhala government can survive without holding.

However, the most significant threat in the short term to the JVP’s strategy is the strengthening of the UPFA by the crossing over of rebels from the main opposition United National Party (UNP). With two MPs having defected and up to a dozen others in negotiations with President Rajapakse, his reliance on the JVP may diminish. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the JVP is opposing the crossing over of UNP MPs, citing concerns over the UPFA government mutating into a party reminiscent of the capitalist UNP.

The peace process has therefore come under another spoiling campaign: the UNP has threatened to withdraw its support (meaning it will agitate against) the peace process unless President Rajapakse stops encouraging defections. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has irresponsibly cited Rajapakse’s poaching of UNP MPs as an acceptable reason for opposing the peace process, even as simmering violence threatens to escalate into a new war. The unashamed threat to future peace efforts from the UNP - a party which claims to be the architect of the present peace process – ought to give pause for thought to the International Community which has in recent years unquestioningly characterised the UNP as liberal and progressive on the national question.

In the Northeast the situation continues to deteriorate. The attacks on civilians and members of the LTTE are continuing although there has been some reduction in the rate of attacks since the agreement to recommence talks. President Rajapakse has promised to ‘look into’ claiming that elements of the military are out of his control.

Particularly disturbing is the strategy adopted by the armed forces to counter the rising attacks on them by Tamil militia. The military has began to deliberately target families and supporters of LTTE members. Scores of civilians have been killed or ‘disappeared’ by the security forces or paramilitary groups working with them. The killings are reminiscent of earlier ‘terror’ tactics used by the Sri Lankan military - and by other foreign armies in countering militias operating in urban areas amongst a sympathetic civilian population. The Sri Lankan crackdown on the JVP in the late eighties followed a similar strategy, albeit on a much larger scale.

President Rajapakse’s rotation into senior military posts of noted hard line commanders like General Sarath Fonseka has directly led to this strategy. The posting of hard line intelligence chief Brigadier Rizvy Zacky to Jaffna is another sign of the policies the army intends to pursue in the coming period. Several thousand families have already fled from the peninsula with others increasingly fearful. Attacks on respected and well known figures within the civil population, such as lecturers, doctors, journalists and aid workers magnify the effect of terror. Sexual attacks, torture and disappearances are amongst the tools that the Sri Lankan Army has already applied. The failure of the international community to unequivocally condemn these terror tactics against civilians is fuelling their effect.

President Rajapakse’s move to swiftly install hard line military commanders may prove to be the biggest hurdle to reaching a long term peace. The UNF government struggled to remove Fonseka as Jaffna commander, despite his defiant refusal to implement the CFA, which was causing serious – and ultimately debilitating - frictions between the two protagonists. His position as commander of the Jaffna forces was cited time and again by the then UNF government as a reason for not delivering on key aspects of the CFA.

The various Army-backed paramilitary organisations also have strong incentives to prevent the stabilisation and implementation CFA, a key part of which requires their disarming. Apart from the termination of their well paid jobs, the system of extortion and illegal trading which they have profited from would become unsustainable without weapons and the space to prey on the Northeastern populace. As the recent violence and abductions in the east attests, they are likely to resist the peace process too.

It is not clear whether Rajapakse’s decision to engage the LTTE in talks was the result of a genuine commitment to peace which he suspended for the sake of electoral success (as some of his horrified supporters claim), or merely a means to secure the armed forces more time to ready themselves for a new war against the Tigers.

But should the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE reach an agreement in Geneva, many of the obstacles that President Rajapakse will face in implementing it are entirely self inflicted. He chose his political bedfellows, despite the concerns of other members of the SLFP. He also chose military commanders who have a known history of antagonism to the CFA and the peace process, from the outset. Furthermore, the hawks in the southern political spectrum appear to have the most options - from legal challenges and electoral power to a sympathetic military leadership - to impose their agenda and resist progress in Geneva.

Despite its support for a peace process and a negotiated solution, the international community’s position has also bolstered the position of the right-wing lobby. Despite Colombo’s failure in the past four years to implement any agreements which will alleviate the living condition of the long-suffering residents of the Northeast, the international community has, by and large, not taken the governments to task or put any real pressure to deliver. The lesson that can justifiably be drawn from this is as long as Sri Lankan state is not directly responsible for the resumption of the conflict by offensive violence, it can continue with actions inimical to peace.

The LTTE’s perspective on the state of affairs was unequivocally set out during the annual Heroes’ Day speech by its leader, who issued a clear timeframe within which hr expects the problems facing the population to be resolved. Tamil parliamentarians have conveyed to the government and the world at large that the Tamil community’s confidence in future improvements – and hence, tolerance of the status quo - is fast ebbing away. The displaced’s ability to return to their homes and continue their lives has been hampered by the failure to implement the CFA and a number of subsequent other agreements.

But all this is coming to a head now. Whether President Rajapakse is genuine in his peace efforts or whether this is merely a cynical ploy to buy time to bolster the military is thus largely academic to the Tamils. The matter will be decided in the coming period: if there are no talks, then the violence will escalate and war is inevitable. If there are talks, but the agreements reached are not implemented, the same will happen.