Top Tiger team flies to Geneva today

An LTTE delegation led by its political wing chief S.P. Thamilselvan is flying to Geneva today to discuss its ISGA proposals with its legal experts.

A special Air Force helicopter was scheduled to fly the ten-member delegation from Kilinochchi to the BIA for a flight from there to Geneva after dinner at the Airport Garden Hotel at Katunayake.

LTTE Peace Secretariat head Pulidevan, LTTE's police Chief Nadesan and Eastern Political head Kaushalyan are in the delegation. They are scheduled to travel from Geneva to Oslo on October 7 for talks with Norwegian facilitators Vidar Helgesen and Erik Solheim.

The delegation during their three-week tour is expected to meet United Nations officials in Geneva and political leaders in Ireland and Belgium.

The LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham is expected to join the delegation in Oslo.

"We will impress on the foreign governments to pressurize the Sri Lankan government to come back for talks immediately," Mr. Thamilselvan told Reuters yesterday before flying out of Kilinochchi.

He said the delegation would also appeal for funding to rebuild areas under the LTTE control in the north and east which he said still lay in ruins after years of crossfire and shelling.

Mr. Thamilselvan also said:

"We have clearly emphasized that we are always ready for the resumption of talks. That is the truth. The President does notseem to understand this."

The government insists the rebels must agree to talk permanent peace before granting interim self-rule, a Catch-22 situation paralyzing peace talks in an impasse that will likely stretch on for months.

Norway says killings beyond its control

The Norwegian government yesterday condemned all factional killings in Sri Lanka and said such acts were a danger to the peace process and the Ceasefire Agreement.

Referring to news reports that the Norwegian government had given an assurance to the EPDP that it would take steps to prevent further killings, a Norwegian Embassy spokesman said yesterday that the facilitators could not give such an assurance on matters that did not come under their control.

He said the political killings were essentially internal matters and Norway could give no assurances regarding such matters.

No swap, but moves under way for release of two homeguards By Sunil Jayasiri

As SLMM Chief Trond Furhovde prepares to meet LTTE political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan near Katunayake today to negotiate the release of two homeguards by the LTTE, the government reiterated it would not agree to any prisoner swap.

Mr. Thamilselvam and an LTTE delegation are due to arrive at the BIA today to take a flight to Geneva and the SLMM chief is likely to meet him at the Airport Garden Hotel.

Public Security Ministry Secretary Tilak Ranaviraja said the detention of two members of the security forces was a violation of the ceasefire terms and it was clear the LTTE was exploiting the agreement to its advantage.

He said that when government forces arrest any LTTE cadres, they brought the matter to the notice of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the two peace secretariats as required by the Ceasefire Agreement, but the LTTE was not observing such procedures.

He said if the government agreed to any prisoner swap, it might set a dangerous precedent with the LTTE taking in more security forces members and demanding swaps.

The secretary said that on a directive from President Chandrika Kumaratunga, a special committee headed by Deputy Defence Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was appointed to work out the release of the homeguards.

He said the committee including Defence Ministry Secretary Cyril Herath, a representative from the Presidential Secretariat and himself decided to exert 'strong pressure on the LTTE through the SLMM for the release of homeguards.

Security measures blamed for student desertions [TamilNet, September 18, 1999 02:55 GMT]

Students attending Tellipallai Mahajana College, which began functioning in its own buildings this Wednesday after nine years, have been subjected to severe body checking, said sources. The school is in the security zone.

Students coming from Kankesanthurai and Ambanai areas have been asked to hand over their identity cards at two army check points. Thereafter security forces transport them in their vehicles to the school, sources said.

During school hours no outsiders are allowed to enter the college premises. Students are also not allowed to leave the security zone during school hours, added sources.

These restrictions imposed by the army have caused severe hardships to the students and about 400 students have left the school, the sources said.

Earlier the total strength of the students was at about 1300, school sources said.

Most of the buildings of the college have been found damaged, school sources added.

Tellipalai Mahajana College, a leading educational institution in the peninsula was moved out to Pandatharippu Hindu College in October 1990. From there it was shifted to Inuvil Central College and then to Alaveddy Arunothaya Vidiyalayam.

Does the US government have strategic interests in Sri Lanka? If so, what are they? By Taraki

There are two schools of thought that seek to explain America's quest for global power. The dominant and popular school argues that American military power projection across the world is driven mainly by the desire to control vital resources and the domination of global sea lanes on which these resources have to be shipped to America and its allies.

The average reader has heard all about the war for oil and other vital resources and remains quite convinced about the arguments of this school of thought that dominates most public discourse on the US government's global interests. Those who subscribe to this school of thought are generally inclined to believe that America has no real strategic interests in Sri Lanka.

The second, lesser-known school, avers that there is more to US military expansionism than the securing of vital resources. If the US is driven only by the need to secure vital resources to sustain the economic foundations of its sole super power status then it is perfectly possible to do so by buying those resources in the world markets, according to this school of thought. Japan became the second biggest economic power in the world by buying oil and other vital resources at market prices. The same can be said of Korea and Taiwan. China, which is fast emerging as a super power, never went to war over oil.

Chalmers Johnson, a well-regarded American scholar, who is one of the main proponents of this view, provides an interesting illustration: After the first war for oil, the US spent 50 billion dollars out of its annual budget to defend the Persian Gulf. The annual cost of oil the US imported during that period was 11 billion dollars - the imports accounted only for ten percent of annual American consumption (for an insight into the workings of the US imperial military system at work around the world read his book 'Blowback')

Quite obviously the US military was not spending 50 billion dollars to protect and bring back 11 billion dollars worth of oil to America!

As one who subscribes to the second school of thought on US military expansionism, I will corroborate this point further with an example from the horse's mouth.

An American defence analyst argues in a centennial issue of the United States War College journal, 'Parameters', that the US should have a foothold on the Spratlys Islands in South China Sea.

"The Spratlys are not Kuwait - they are not even Falklands. They are not about oil, they are not about democracy, and they are not about human rights- for the most part they are not even inhabited. The correct answer, of course, is that in the Spratlys we would be fighting over the balance of power in Asia", ('An Evitable War: Engaged Containment and the US-China Balance' by Lt. Col. Roy C. Howle, acting executive officer and military assistant for operations to the Undersecretary of the US Army, in 'Parameters' Vol. XXXI, No. 3, Autumn 2001)

Simply put, the US wants to advantageously position its military power in all strategically important parts of the world so that the balance of power ineach region would inevitably and overwhelmingly be on its side. This would preclude the rise of any global hegemon like the USSR in the future and would help the US 'overdetermine' the course of world affairs by being in a position to effectively project its power in every nook and cranny of this planet. The US government's strategic interests in Sri Lanka are intertwined with its military objectives in South Asia and Asia.

Therefore a brief overview of the strategic objectives of the US in Asia in general and South Asia in particular is necessary to identity and understand the development of US military interests in Sri Lanka.

Four years ago the US Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, the US Air Force and the Commander of the US's Pacific Air Forces commissioned a study on projecting US military power in Asia. The research for the project was carried out by RAND Corporation.

According to the declassified version of this study - 'The US and Asia: Toward a New Force Posture'- America's "access strategy" in Asia is centred on "increasing opportunities for deployments and exercises and on the development of contingency agreements with potential security partners in the area" - in South Asia this means Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal. It should be noted here that the "access strategy" also includes plans to significantly increase electronic and other intelligence assets in the territories of potential security partners in the region.

In this context it is interesting to note what the study says of potential security partners in the region such as Sri Lanka: "In the near term, access strategy for Asia should centre on increasing opportunities for deployments and exercises and on the development of contingency agreements with a number of potential security partners in the area. Depending on the closeness of the resulting relationship, this could include measures to tailor local infrastructure to USAF operations by extending runways, improving air traffic control facilities, repairing parking aprons and the like." It should be noted in this context that the US is only seeking and looking for basing opportunities in South Asia but not avenues for constructing new military installations for USAF operations.

According to the RAND study, "The identification of bases that are currently capable (or nearly so) of supporting USAF operations has both political and financial advantages. There appears to be little appetite, either in the United States or in the region, for the construction of additional American military installations.The bases identified in this analysis should not require significant upgrades that could be costly in terms of either USAF budget dollars or American political capital."

The study focused on five key attributes: the length of the runway(s) at the facility, runway width, the amount of ramp space, the number of fighter sized parking spaces available, and whether or not weapons storage is available. It also looked at pavement loading characteristics (which are critical to operating large heavy aircraft such as air-lifters), the availability of fuel and 'other factors'.

Discussing basing opportunities for the US in South Asia, the RAND study notes that they are "somewhat limited in this part of the world". The study observe further, "Diego Garcia is the permanent US outpost nearest the subcontinent, but we use the term 'near' advisedly - for that base lies approximately 2500 nautical miles from Islamabad. (The base is approximately the same distance from Kashmir.) and 2200 nautical miles from New Delhi."

The study identifies three general regions for basing opportunities located east, west, and north of India.

The study first discusses the area east of India: "This region has limited facilities and relations between Burma and the United States are stressed. Finally given the proximity of this region to China, opportunities for close military relations may be limited in the event of heightened tensions", the authors say.

"The second region consists of the Central Asian republics. Improved access to South Asia could grow from enhanced relations with these former Soviet republics". The study notes that Central Asian states such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan could serve as valuable entrepots to the Subcontinent.

"The third region is the Middle East, and it is here that we see the most prominence for conducting operations in South Asia. As was show during the Gulf War, the air base facilities in this region are second to none, and the governments in the region are relatively stable, often with national interests that align with those of the United States. With regard to geography, Oman is closest to the Indian-Pakistani border - about 500 nautical miles. Relations between the government of Oman and United States are good, and Oman has shown itself to be a steadfast ally. In addition the basing infrastructure is well developed. Two bases - Seeb International and Masirah Island - are particularly well suited for the conduct of USAF operations".

The other bases available to the USAF for operations in South Asia are in Thailand and Singapore. The US has a long-standing defence treaty relationship with Thailand and use of a Royal Thai naval air station in U Tapaho. It has a similar defence treaty arrangement with Singapore. But the RAND Corp. study notes that New Delhi is 1600 nautical miles from Bangkok as are bases in central Saudi Arabia and it is 2200 nautical miles from Singapore.

Therefore the US began to actively look for basing opportunities in countries closer to India. In Sri Lanka the war with the LTTE offered America ample scope for this purpose. The cease-fire agreement created the ideal environment for further studying and consolidating basing and other opportunities in Sri Lanka. This is when we saw a sharp increase in US Pacific Command visits to this island.

America has several legal instruments such as the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) and Access and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) by which it can cement deals with countries where it wants to position itself to gain strategic advantage or dominance in a region. Explaining the advantages of such agreements, the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) chief Admiral Thomas Fargo says "ACSA and MLSA enhance inter operability and readiness and provide a cost effective mechanism for mutual logistics support for US".

According to him USPACOM has signed the ACSA with Philippines, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. He says that eight other countries including Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are eligible for signing the ACSA. (Admiral Thomas B. Fargo: 'Statement of the US Navy Commander- US Pacific Command before the House International Relations Committee, Sub Committee on Asia and the Pacific, on US Pacific Command Posture' - June 26, 2003)

In 1999, the US signed a defence treaty (probably the VFA and/or MLSA) with Nepal. This was done despite a treaty between India and Nepal that explicitly prohibits Kathmandu from courting external military alliances and assistance without New Delhi's approval (Exchange of Letters in the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1951).

India, patently alarmed by this development, has, since then, sought to dissuade countries in the region from entering into such defence agreements with the US. New Delhi is also apparently keen to subtly reduce the influence of the US military that has been silently expanding in some neighbouring countries in recent years. (It is no accident that the Maoist Guerrillas are attacking US interests in Nepal)

The Kuda Oya International Airport project is a case in point. On February 19, 2004 the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Civil Aviation placed an ad in the papers inviting "Expressions of Interests from Reputed Organisations/Consortia/Joint Ventures for the development of an International Aerodrome at Kuda Oya Wellawaya". In the past US Special Forces had allegedly trained in Kuda Oya with the Sri Lanka military. Later the place was called an adventure theme park. If one draws a radius from the sea-lanes that curve off our southern coast, one end would be in Kuda Oya. It would show the importance of its location. If anyone were to inquire into the project's current status it might throw some light on the tensions behind the specific strategic interests that intersect in Sri Lanka. Also consider India's stand on developing the Palaly airfield in Jaffna.

America recently 'upgraded' Pakistan to a Major Non NATO Ally status. If, on top of this, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka were to sign the ACSA, the American military's strategic posture in South Asia would be complete and unchallengeable. (A US offer to sign the ACSA with India was rejected by New Delhi as a ruse to take the edge off its objections to America signing the agreement with other South Asian countries).

It is a fact that the US wanted to sign the ACSA or a similar treaty with Sri Lanka in 2002 when the UNP was in power. USPACOM chief confirms that Sri Lanka is still on the list of countries with which America wants to sign the treaty. If his statement on what ACSA entails were perused together with the RAND Corp. study on increasing US basing opportunities in South Asia, we would get a very clear picture of America's strategic interests in Sri Lanka.

The Letters of Exchange of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987 (ISLA) prohibit Sri Lanka from having foreign troops on its soil without India's sanction. But like Nepal, Sri Lanka too can ignore the ISLA and cement a military deal with the US.

Politicians and influential opinion makers (including former arch anti imperialist Dayan Jayatilleka) are clamouring for US assistance to defeat the LTTE. The US compulsion to find basing opportunities here and the desire of Sinhala nationalists to preserve the unitary state with foreign military assistance appear to be equal in their self-persuasive force.

This is why I argue that a point might be soon reached where there would be a confluence of American and Sinhala nationalist interests whether India likes it or not.
But then like Nepal there would be a price to pay.

PNM warns Govt. not to base peace talks on ISGA By Gagani Weerakoon

If the UPFA commenced peace talks based on the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) instead of a final solution, they would not hesitate to defeat the Government, warned the Patriotic National Movement (PNM).

Addressing the special convention of the PNM 'Perambera Dekma', held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium on Monday co-president of the PNM, Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera said that PNM had an ethical right to do so and it would never allow to establish such an interim authority in this country.

" The government is bound with the responsibility of protecting people's self esteem as they are the ones who voted to bring the UPFA into power" he said.

Ven. Thera also urged the Chief Incumbent of the Malwatta chapter not to accept the invitation of the LTTE to visit Kilinochchi to hold discussions with them.

" We also believe that Malwatte Mahanayake Thera will not betray the bhikkus by visiting Kilinochchi," he said.

Meanwhile, the JVP Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa who is also a member of the PNM denied allegations that the delay in the peace talks was caused by the JVP and due to an internal crisis in the UPFA.

The PNM also unanimously approved a proposal to urge the government to name the year 2005 as the 'Year against re-colonization', as it marks 500 years of Portuguese invasion.

Mother, daughter killed during ambush [TamilNet, September 29, 1999 14:08 GMT]

Three people, including a mother and her 14 year old daughter were killed yesterday in the coastal fishing hamlet of Kaluwankerni, about 20 km north east of Batticaloa when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and cadres from the Razeek group, a paramilitary organisation operating alongside the SLA, opened fire said sources.

Sources said troops waiting in ambush had observed a youth and fired at him last night around 9.30 p.m. The youth, known as Thevan, had ran towards a nearby hut to escape firing.

The soldiers chased the youth, shot and killed him.

The mother, A.Yogeswary, 34 and her daughter, V.Nageswaray,14, who were in the hut were hit by the firing and died on the spot.

The SLA claimed the youth was a member of the Liberation Tigers and handed over his body at the Eravur hospital.

Unconfirmed reports, however, said the youth was a civilian from Kaluwankerni.

The bodies of Yogeswary and her daughter were handed over to the hospital by the Divisional Secretary.

Civilian killed in shelling north of Batticaloa [TamilNet, September 28, 2004 10:45 GMT]

A civilian was killed and another wounded in shelling in Panichchankerni, 60 kilometres north of Batticaloa Tuesday around 11. 30 a.m. The shelling came from the direction of the Cashew Plantation Sri Lanka army camp in Mankerni, residents said. The woman who was injured in the shelling was taken to Valaichenai hospital and was then transferred to the Batticaloa teaching hospital. Panichchankerni is a village in the LTTE controlled region in Batticaloa north. Mankerni is five kilometres south of Panichchankerni. Police said the person who was killed in the shelling was a woman identified as Mrs. K. Kalipillai, 47. One of the injured women was identified as Ms. Uthayachelvi, 38. She is being operated on, doctors at the Batticaloa hospital said.

U.S funds training of Sri Lanka Police [TamilNet, September 28, 2004 20:04 GMT]

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Jeffrey.J.Lunstead, and Srilankan Inspector General of police Indra De Silva signed an agreement today at the US Embassy initiating a two year program administered by the U.S Department of Justice where Sri Lanka Police will receive equipment and training worth $250,000, a US embassy press release issued today said.

Full text of the press release follows:

Several hundred policemen throughout Sri Lanka will soon benefit from new equipment and training offered by the United States under a program aimed to improve the performance of local community policemen. U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead and Sri Lankan Inspector General of Police Indra De Silva signed a Memorandum of Agreement today at the U.S. Embassy outlining details of the program.

Valued at US$ 250,000, the program will run for two years and is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice under the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP).

''We're proud to be able to offer this assistance to local Sri Lankan policemen as a tangible benefit of the peace process,'' said Ambassador Lunstead. ''Hopefully this program will lead to better public relations within the communities where they work,'' Lunstead added.

LTTE rejects request of villagers to return By Ranjith Jayasundara

LTTE has notified registered villagers in Nadduwan Kawdu village in Elephant Pass under the LTTE not to return until further notice.

The LTTE has prohibited resettlement until land mines and anti-personal mines are cleared and protection confirmed.

LTTE has commenced clearing land mines by their land mine clearing unit Wemipura battalion and the human unit engaged in clearing operations.

There were 168 families left this village for Vavuniya, Jaffna or Killinochchi when the war was on for refugee camps or to stay with their relations. Now they have informed the LTTE that they need to come back. The LTTE response was negative.

Paramilitary cadre shot dead in Jaffna [TamilNet, September 27, 2004 09:45 GMT]

A member of a paramilitary group working with the Sri Lanka army was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Jaffna Monday afternoon, Police said. The man, identified as Valli Sundaram, was riding a motorbike on KKS Road between Maruthanamadam and Inuvil when two gunmen on a motorbike fired on him with a handgun, according to Police.

He is from the coastal village of Myiliddy. Mr. Sundaram was residing in the EPRLF (V) camp by the Sri Lanka army's main garrison in Jaffna town after he was displaced from his village due to Sri Lanka army operations in 1990, Police said.

LTTE condemns assassination of senior leader [TamilNet, September 26, 2001 13:09 GMT]

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an official statement issued from its headquarters in Vanni Wednesday, strongly condemned the killing of one of its senior leaders, Colonel Shankar. The statement said the LTTE leadership "shares the Tamil people's outrage and treats the killing of a senior leader with utmost gravity."

The full text of the press release follows:

"The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an official statement issued from its headquarters in Vanni Wednesday, strongly condemned the killing of one of its senior leaders Colonel Shankar.

"A deep penetration commando unit of the Sri Lankan Army triggered a claymore mine on Col. Shankar's vehicle and he was killed on the spot. The incident occurred around 10.45 a.m. today near Oddusudan in the heart of Vanni, Northern Sri Lanka.

"Col. Shankar has been an active participant in the Tamil people's freedom struggle for nearly two decades. He was a close confidante of the LTTE leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan and accompanied him in the first historic meeting in the Vanni with Oslo's Special Envoy, Erik Solheim, in November 2000.

"Provocatively, Col. Shankar's killing occurred on the anniversary of the death during hunger strike of Lt. Col Thileepan, a day of profound sadness amongst the Tamil people. The LTTE leadership shares the Tamil people's outrage and treats the killing of a senior leader with utmost gravity.

"Whilst maintaining to the international community that it is committed to a negotiated settlement, President Chandrika Kumaratunga's regime has repeatedly sought to sabotage the Norwegian peace initiative and continued its military operations. As a result of repeated Sri Lankan acts of aggression, formal and informal efforts to de-escalate the conflict have proved futile. The attack on Col Shankar and the date chosen for it highlights the Sri Lankan government's ongoing determination to seek the military option in solving the Tamil national question. Prospects for peace talks through Norwegian facilitation, stalled earlier through Colombo's efforts to sideline Mr. Solheim, have been further set back by the killing of this senior LTTE leader."

Preaching to the convinced

The ‘Peace’ cacophony increased in crescendo last week and hit the high notes. It was the International Day for Peace and this was commemorated in this country perhaps as no other country did.

The state media had little news other than ‘Peace’ and President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s visit to the New York UN headquarters where she too made a clarion call for peace in the world over as well as in her country. The peace drums were being beaten in gusto in the newspapers, over radio and TV. Peace demonstrations were organised in many parts of the country such as mini marathons. The Centrepiece was Sarvodaya Chief’s demonstration termed, Ahimsa, on the lawns of the BMICH where some thousands who had been transported from far away places gathered. Mr Ariyarartne’s demonstration was held to ‘meditate on Peace’.

Transcendental and metaphysical thoughts and prayers to gods may help in bringing about the wishes of the devotees but to whom were they appealing to on terra firma? What is the ‘Peace’ that they wanted and whom did they think was disturbing the tranquillity or in more materialistic terms, making war?

Was it the government of Sri Lanka? Are our armed forces at war right now and killing people or is it the LTTE itself in their fratricidal between its two factions? Who is killing so called government intelligence agents and cadres of the EPDP? Who is abducting children for war? The answer is all too obvious.

All are well aware that there is one organisation under one fascist megalomaniac making war and killing people but none of these ‘peace’ demonstrators dared even to name him or the organisation. Why oh why is this deadly silence? The favourite excuse from NGO workers to diplomats is that it is not the way of conflict resolution. And all negotiators have been scared of calling a spade a spade. This has been an ideal situation for Prabakaran right right along—- using the peace fa`E7ade to further his military and political objectives.

Could not that messiah for peace, A.T.Ariyaratne ,from the foot steps of the BMICH on the day of his ‘Ahimsa’ cried out aloud for the world to hear : ‘Vellupillai Prabakaran, in the name of humanity, in the name of your brothers and sisters of Sri Lanka, stop the killings?’ Mr. Ariyaratne who once threatened a ‘Peace March’ to Jaffna from Dondra but which failed to proceed even a short distance, made no such direct appeal to the killers. Meditation with his demonstrators dressed in white, 190,000 of them, as he claimed, was his contribution.

But the message he sent out gave a totally wrong picture to what is happening in this country. Such mass demonstrations for ‘Peace’ in a country where only a terroist organisation continues its killings, coveys a totally different picture to the outside world. It conveys the impression that a massive bloody conflict is on in this country and the minorities are being massacred. The crimes committed by the killers are covered by this fa`E7ade of peace.

It is doing no good to the country and its people. It only amounts to preaching to the convinced and taking away attention from the killers.

It will be recalled that peace has been the objective of every Sri Lankan government since the guerrilla war with the terroist groups commenced. President J.R.Jayewardene went over to India to bring about a settlement because India at this stage was building up the guerrilla groups. Since then, every government has sued for peace. But the ‘Peace Mongers’ particuarly those backed by foreign NGOs consistently portrayed the government as the war mongers and the LTTE as representatives of a suppressed minority.

It happened last week, this time the objective being to compel the government to sit down for negotiations on terms demanded by the LTTE. Even foreign governments that conceded that the LTTE proposals were a blue print for a separate state now want the government to start negotiations—- come hell or high-water—- for the government and the people of this country.

People like Mr. Ariyaratne must realise that preaching to the convinced like his faithful Sarvodaya organisation in the full glare of the media will not contribute to peace. It is counterproductive to peace. Go forth Mr. Ariyaratne, to the north and east and preach your ‘ahimsa’there. The people of Colombo are not killers and don’t need your loving kindness.

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/27/editorial.html)

Fighting in Nagar Kovil [TamilNet, September 26, 2000 12:42 GMT]

Fighting has been reported between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers in Nagar Kovil on the southeastern coast of Jaffna since Tuesday afternoon.

Residents in neighbouring areas reported heavy shelling and firing. Further details were not known.

The Sri Lanka army has a large base in this coastal village and its environs. The Liberation Tigers control the coast and its hinterland immediately south of the SLA's forward defences in Nagar Kovil.

Schools complicate [TamilNet, September 26, 2003 02:04 GMT]

High level officers from Colombo head quarters of Sri Lanka Airforce (SLAF) visited Valaiyiravu military airport in Batticaloa district yesterday to investigate the feasibility of expanding the airport while the two schools, Puthur Vigneswara Vidiyalayam and Valaiyiravu Methodist Vidiyalayam, remain located in close proximity to the perimeter of the airport, security sources said.

The SLAF officers are to submit a report to Austin Fernando, the defense secretary in the United National Front (UNF) government.

Education officials from the Batticaloa district also participated in a meeting yesterday morning with the SLAF officers at the Valaiyiravu military airport premises, according to security sources. It was decided to convene another meeting with the members of the School Development Society on the 3rd of October, the security sources added.

Although funds were allocated some months ago for the improvement of the buildings and for the construction of new buildings for the schools, the Batticaloa SLAF refused to give permission for work on school buildings to begin.

The School Development Society lodged a complaint with the Defense Department which resulted in the Defense Secretary directing the SLAF to prepare a detailed report on the matter.

Northern Muslims support talks based on ISGA [TamilNet, September 26, 2004 11:41 GMT]

"Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge should take immediate steps to commence peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals submitted by the LTTE," said Moulavi. M.Subiyan, Secretary of the Association to Protect Rights of Northern Muslims, when TamilNet asked him to comment on the current peace stalemate. M.Subiyan is also the President of Killinochchi District Muslims' Secretariat.

"We will be meeting Ms.Kumaratunge to request her to start peace talks with the LTTE on the basis of ISGA," said M.Subiyan.

M.Subiyan urged Sri Lanka's President to be sincere in her effort to find a lasting peace through negotiation with the LTTE as early as possible without issuing contradicting statements. He cited the speech Ms.Kumaratunge made in UN General Assembly alleging that the LTTE has been refusing to attend the peace talks and said that it is a clear distortion of truth.

M.Subiyan further said even the President is prepared to commence peace talks with LTTE on the basis of ISGA, her political partner in the government, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) would not allow her to proceed with her independent decision. Now the ball is squarely in the President's court, he said.

"We have also decided to meet foreign envoys in Colombo to brief them on the stand taken by the Northern Muslims regarding the ISGA. We support that talks should immediately commence on the basis of LTTE's ISGA proposal. We would also be requesting the envoys of Norway, America and Japan to use their good offices to assert pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka to accept the ISGA as basis for future peace talks" M.Subiyan told TamilNet.

M.Subiyan said only through peace talks between the GOSL and LTTE problems faced by Tamils and Muslims could be solved satisfactorily.

Abomination - ISGA

This is a sincere expression of gratitude to Mr. S. L. Gunesekera for writing the timely book titled ‘Abomination - ISGA’. Many, including me, profusely thank Mr. Gunesekera.

He has, with clarity and incisiveness, taken the ISGA apart and shredded it; showing what an abomination it is.

I urge the sister paper of ‘The Island’, ‘Divaina’, to immediately translate it into Sinhala and serialize it in their daily paper (with the permission of the author, of course) for the benefit of the majority Sinhala reading citizens of our country. In the introduction SLG calls himself a political misfit and a ‘voice in the wilderness’. Political misfit or not, he should not be left to be just a voice in the wilderness. The people of the country have a right to hear him. They should know clearly what the stakes are, if the GOSL is going for talks with the Tigers. I’m sure ‘Divaina’ will Mediate between SLG and the people.

And I plead with the politicians, in power and in opposition, to listen carefully to what SLG has to say and take him seriously.

As you come to the end of the book, you are reminded of the famous refrain, ‘Carthago delenda est.’, of the Roman Senator Cato the elder who concluded all his speeches with it: Like Cato, SLG’s refrain is: LTTE delenda est. And how right he is. Is there any other option that can save our beloved country and its integrity?

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/27/opinion3.html)

Who is a fundamentalist?

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1961) has the following entry:

Fundamentalism: a militantly conservative movement in American Protestanism originating around the beginning of the 20th century in opposition to modernist tendencies and emphasizing as fundamental to Christianity the literal acceptance of the absolute inerrancy of the Scriptures, the imminent and physical second coming of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, physical resurrection, and substitutionary atonement b: the beliefs on which this movement was founded c: adherence to the attitude opposing modernism and to the literalist doctrines of fundamentalism 2: a movement or attitude similar in a significant respect (as literalism or strict adherence to traditional beliefs to the American religious fundamentalism Muslim fundamentalism ...

Fundamentalist: an adherent or proponent of protestant fundamentalism 2: an extreme conservative......

Peter Mansfield, the celebrated journalist/author on the Middle East (ex-British Foreign Service) has the following: "Since the earliest times, Arab and Muslim rulers have assumed secular power to some degree -and none more so than today- Sbut the ideal continues to have a powerful influence on the hearts and minds of all Muslims. It accounts for the potent force of utopianism among Arabs -the belief that if they were to return to the ways of the Prophet and his companions the triumph of Islam in this world would be assured. In the West this is usually described as fundamentalism, but in real sense all Muslim believers are fundamentalist, because they know that the Holy Koran was God’s final message to mankind. The triumph of the West in the last two or three centuries is seen by Muslims as an aberration of history...." A History of the Middle East.

1991, Revised Second edition 2003, p.13. [Peter Mansfield died in 1996]

Haris de Silva

Colombo 5

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/27/opinion2.html)

Heavy fighting reported in Eluthumadduval [TamilNet, September 26, 2000 14:44 GMT]

Fighting is reported between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and the Liberation Tigers in the Eluthumadduval-Nagar Kovil axis along the lines held by the SLA. Sources said clashes began around 4pm Tuesday

Fighting is heavy in the forward defence localities of the SLA in the Eluthumadduval sector, Army sources said. Some of the SLA's forward positions have been overrun they said.

The reports could not be independently verified as reporters are not permitted to enter the war zones.

The SLA fell back to Eluthumadduval, southeast of Chavakachcheri town on the A9 highway, after the Liberation Tigers overran the strategic Elephant Pass base complex in April this year and advanced north, taking the town of Palai on the way.

Search operation in Vadamaradchi east [TamilNet, September 26, 1998 20:38 GMT]

The Sri Lankan Army cordoned off and searched the villages of Kudaththanai and Manalkaadu, in Vadamaradchi East, in the Jaffna peninsula from 9 a.m. this morning until 1 p.m.

Sources said that the army from the Vallipuram camp moved into the area on a tip off about the presence of some persons suspected to be members of the Liberation Tigers.

No one was allowed to leave the area until the search was over.

Residents said that many who had entered the area before 9 a.m. had to wait in a long queue until at the Vallipuram checkpoint until the operation was over.

Claymore kills nine soldiers [TamilNet, September 26, 2000 18:04 GMT]

Nine Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed when the tractor in which they were travelling was hit by a powerful claymore mine blast north of Omanthai, around 7.30 p.m. Tuesday, security sources in Vavuniya said. One soldier was wounded.

The sources said soldiers were taking supplies to troops at the SLA's forward defence lines from a camp at Omanthai, about 14 km. north of Vavuniya when the Liberation Tigers set off the blast.

Reinforcement were sent to the area and a search was conducted, the sources added

SLA offensive near Chavakachcheri [TamilNet, September 26, 2000 06:53 GMT]

The Sri Lanka army launched another operation to expand its area of control northwest of Chavakachcheri from the early hours of the morning around 1.30 a.m. military sources in Jaffna said.

The operation appears to be aimed at breaking the pincer of the Liberation Tigers above Chavakachcheri town which was captured by the SLA last week in an operation code named Kiniheera sources said.

Sri Lankan defence ministry said 13 soldiers were killed and 45 wounded in the offensive which ended around 9 a.m. today. It further said that 17 Tigers were also killed in the fighting.

The LTTE has not commented on the fighting.

SLA soldiers in LTTE security zone arrested [TamilNet, September 26, 2002 11:47 GMT]

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Wednesday morning took seven soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army into custody when they entered a security zone between two LTTE camps at Kumburupiddy, 22 km north of Trincomalee town, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission sources said. “All steps are being taken to release the soldiers in view of the prevailing goodwill between both sides,” an LTTE official in Kilinochchi said.

The Deputy Head of the SLMM flew to Trincomalee from Batticaloa Wednesday evening and held talks with the LTTE local leaders in Trincomalee.

SLA sources said the soldiers had gone to the area in a tractor to collect sand.

The SLMM officials are holding talks with the LTTE leaders in Killinochchi, regarding the soldiers' release.

The Sri Lanka army and Police have arrested 22 LTTE fighters in the Trincomalee district since the cease-fire agreement was signed between the Colombo and the Tigers. Twenty were released amidst objections by the LTTE. The Sri Lanka Police arrested two LTTE members in Kantalai two weeks ago and are yet to release them.

Tigers divided over Reggie

Tiger spokesman Daya Master has claimed that they were not involved in last week’s killing of Reggie, the elder brother of renegade Batticaloa commander Karuna and two other dissidents. Daya Master denied the group’s involvement in a telephone conversation with Reuters last Thursday.

But the political division of the LTTE for Batticaloa-Amparai said, in a statement posted on TamilNet on Friday, that Karuna’s brother Reggie and two of his associates were shot dead by "the special jungle warfare units of the Jeyanthan Regiment around 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday (21). They were killed in a jungle near the Maduru Oya reservoir. Communications equipment, weapons with serial numbers erased and some documents were recovered."

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/27/news3.html)

Four member committee for release of home guards by Norman Palihawadane

President Chandrika Kumaratunga has appointed a four member committee to work for the release of two homeguards abducted by the LTTE at Gomarankadawala, a press statement issued by the President`EDs office said on Friday.

However, the fast unto death campaign staged by the relatives of the two home guards, D. Sarath Bandara and Chandana Piyasiri, passed its third day yesterday.

Ministers Mangala Samaraweera, Maithripala Sirisena, IGP Indra Silva, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order Tilak Ranviraja and North Province Governor Ashoka Jayawardene visited the protestors at Trincomalee on Thursday, it said.

They had informed the fasters that the Government would do its best to save the two home guards from the LTTE.

A spokesman for the North East Sinhala Organisation, however, said that they would not call off their fast unto death campaign until the two home guards are released by the LTTE. The two home guards were abducted by the LTTE on August 10 at Konabendiwewa, Gomarankadawala. The LTTE later demanded that the government release ten of their cadres for the release of the two home guards.

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/27/news11.html)

TNA wants Switzerland to pressure Lanka

The TNA had urged Swiss Ambassador Bernadino Regazzoni, to pressure the UPFA government to resume negotiations with the LTTE. According to a pro-LTTE TamilNet report, the meeting had taken place on Friday at the Switzerland Embassy in Colombo Friday. The TNA had been represented by the party’s Foreign Affairs Committee comprising Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam, Ms. Pathimini Sithamparanathan, and Joseph Pararajasingam.

The TNA had also emphasized the need for the international community to display a balanced approach, and that blaming only the LTTE for the violence in the east will not be constructive to peace. The active support of the Sri Lanka military to paramilitary groups is one of the key reasons for the escalating violence, the parliamentarians pointed out.

The TNA had also warned of the imminent danger in resumption of hostilities unless the government responded positively to the LTTE efforts to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict.

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/27/news2.html)

A flawed theory!

Giving a press briefing at the UN headquarters, President Chandrika Kumaratunga has take up a position on terrorism, which is at variance with that of the US. She has said she does not agree with President Bush’s approach to ending terrorism through force. "Even if the expression of the conflict may take the most horrendous terroristic forms, we believe that there are justified reasons for it," she has said arguing ‘that legitimate grievances must be considered apart from the acts of violence."

She seems to have a point here in that terrorism derives sustenance from the grievances – both perceived and real – of some sections of society and the resultant frustration of theirs.

But it is wrong to assume that grievances are the only reason for terrorism. They are the fa`E7ade that terrorists use to project themselves as the underdog so as to justify terror in the eyes of the gullible.

Ask even an outfit like Al Queda why it is unleashing barbaric violence and it will claim that it is doing so to save Islam from its enemies despite the fact that it is doing greater harm to Islam than any other organisation. Ask the butchers beheading their hostages in Iraq in that barbaric manner why they are killing those innocent people who are in no way party to the conflict, they will claim some grievances in justification of their dastardly crimes against humanity. Ask the LTTE why they slashed the bellies of pregnant Muslim mothers (at Katankudy in 1990: See the statement by the Federation of North East Muslim Brotherhood – The Island of August 04, 2004) took out the unborn babies and stuffed their mouths with chopped breasts of their mothers, they will tell you they have been doing so to achieve their aspirations.

The consider-grievances-separate-from-violence theory makes it impossible to remove the scourge of global terrorism, which is chipping away at the foundations of civilisation. For, it leaves room for a terror outfit operating in one country to claim, in another, its ‘grievances’ in extenuation of its ‘horrendous terroristic’ violence. It has also led to your-terrorist-is-our-freedom-fighter policy and given the so-called the powerful nations an opportunity to deal with terrorism according to their whims and fancies.

The US policy on terrorism is a case in point. As part of a crusade against terrorism, it has bombed Afghanistan and Iraq into the Stone Age in search of its terrorists and has no qualms about its on-going military campaign even in the face of serious criticism against war on Iraq from many quarters including the UN itself.

But, the US, which employs all its resources to make mince meat of its terrorists, according to its ambassador here, believes that there is ‘no military solution to Sri Lanka’s conflict’, which, it says, has to be resolved through negotiations. In other words, the US is asking Sri Lanka to offer lamb after lamb to the Tigers until they become vegetarians!

It is only wishful thinking that terrorism will cease to be, after ‘justified reasons for it’ or the ‘legitimate grievances’ are eliminated. Terrorists always graduate from grievances to aspirations when a government agrees to redress grievances, thus upping the ante and making it difficult for negotiations to progress. We have seen this happen in Sri Lanka. The LTTE, which once spoke of grievances, is now talking of aspirations.

President Kumaratunga herself has admitted at the UN press briefing that she does not know what to do to make the LTTE eschew violence. She has said she does not know ‘what else the government could do short of handing over the country to the LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. So much for the ‘justified reasons’ for terrorism.

There is no reason why the civilised world should, without being taken for a ride by terrorists and their wily allies, hesitate to come down hard on the barbarians unleashing terror.

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/26/editorial.html)

Kalutara Courts in heightened security by Harischandra Gunaratna

Security in the Kalutara Courts has been tightened since Wednesday and body searches by the police are the order of the day while the case of a gang-land killing is being heard at the Magistrates Court. There is suspicion that arms and explosives could be smuggled in to the courts by the rival parties.

Two notorious gangs involved in the case are suspected of a number of killings in Kalutara North police division, police said.

Rumour mongers naturally had a field day spreading a story that there was a bomb in the courts and that litigants and lawyers were asked to leave the Magistrate Courts as the bomb disposal squad had been summoned to defuse it.

Senior lawyer in the Kalutara Bar Bandula Weerasinghe said "At no time was there a bomb scare in the Court house" and confirmed it is the work of the rumour mongers. A veteran lawyer with over four decades of practice was quoted as saying that it was the first time that he was subjected to a body search in the Courts premises.

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/24/news20.html)

Aussie TV producer arrested

The producer of a proposed reality TV show called Fantasy Island appeared in court Thursday, accused of threatening terrorist attacks against Australian targets in the name of Osama bin Laden.

Charles Gant, 42, allegedly spoke of impending attacks in telephone calls to the Australian High

Com-mission in Singapore and media companies days after the September 9 bombing of Australia’s embassy in Jakarta, the court heard.

Gant was arrested Wednesday at his home in Queensland state by federal police counter-terrorism agents, police said.

The Egyptian-born promoter was the creator and proposed star of a reality television dating show, Fantasy Island. It was not clear whether the show has yet been filmed.

Crown prosecutor Anthony Gett said Gant used his mobile phone to make threatening calls to the Australian mission in Singapore and several media organisations.

In one call Gant allegedly identified himself as Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and said Australian offices in Singapore and Malaysia would be bombed.

"The bomb that happened in Jakarta is going to happen in Malaysia and Singapore," he said, referring to a September 9 suicide bombing in the Indonesian capital that killed nine people.

"I called to warn you of more attacks on Australian consulates in Malaysia and Singapore," he was quoted as saying.

In another call, Gant allegedly told a media group: "You Westerners know what you’ve done and you will pay for your sins.

"The attack in Jakarta is just the first, more will follow in Singapore and Malaysia."

"Listen to me you are all Australian pigs and you will die," he allegedly told a telephone receptionist at Fairfax Newspapers in another call.

The charges against Gant carry a maximum 12-month prison term.

Gant’s lawyer said the charges were based on circumstantial evidence and would be vigorously defended. The suspect was denied bail and remanded in custody pending another hearing on October 8.

Outside court Gant’s elderly mother, Marie Dubois, pleaded her son’s innocence. "He’s a good boy, he’s never done anything wrong, he’s not a terrorist," she said.

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/24/news8.html)

CBK disagrees with Bush approach

In the world’s fight against terrorism, the use of force and violence by a State should be the last resort, Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference. Calling terrorism "the most dehumanizing, the most horrendous phenomenon of our times", she stated that there were, nevertheless, alternative ways of handling it. She said that U.S. President George W. Bush, in his speech before the General Assembly earlier today, seemed to argue that the main strategy of meeting terrorism in the world is through force, a view with which she disagreed, states a media release from the Presidential Secretariat.

The release continued: Asked by a journalist what perspective Sri Lanka has to offer the world about the strategies to use in the fight against terrorism, she said her government believed that the way to resolve conflict was through negotiations and dialogue. "Even if the expression of the conflict may take the most horrendous terroristic forms, we believe that there are justified reasons for it", she said, arguing that legitimate grievances must be considered apart from the acts of violence. She said there was, perhaps, no better organization than the United Nations to identify and address the root causes of terrorism. The international community could deal with Al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein more effectively and more durably using this approach.

When asked whether the results of US elections might affect Sri Lanka’s willingness to offer assistance in Iraq, she stated that, "whoever is the President of the United States, we will not send troops to Iraq because we do not believe that war is the solution".

The Government of Sri Lanka continued to seek a negotiated solution to the country’s own armed conflict, which had lasted for two decades. A ceasefire had held for two-and-a-half years, she said, though she accused the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of some violations. In particular, she said the Tigers were responsible for child conscription and the illegal collection of taxes in the north and east of the country.

Ten years ago, her Government had made the first overture to the Tigers to resolve the conflict through a negotiated settlement, she said. Since then, various governments had attempted negotiations; however the Tigers repeatedly had "kicked the process in the teeth and walked away", she said.

Currently, the LTTE was not engaged in a direct dialogue with the government, but its leaders had reiterated a commitment not to go back to war. She said the Government of Sri Lanka also remained committed not to go back to armed conflict. "We remain committed to the concept that we do not like war", she said. "We are determined to do our maximum to persuade our adversaries, the LTTE, to engage in the process of negotiations in order that we can together formulate a satisfactory and lasting solution to the conflict." The government of Norway continued to play an active and dynamic role in pursuing talks with the LTTE.

The Tigers would like to see what they call an "interim, self-governing authority" established before continuing discussions about a final resolution of the conflict, she said. Her government was "not satisfied" with this approach, and would prefer to discuss what would be the shape of a final solution before establishing any interim arrangement. She mentioned that there were proposals for interim arrangements in various constitutional reform proposals her party had put forward. Her Government continued to view the extensive devolution of power, "a kind of federal state", as the key to resolving the conflict. This proposal was first offered by her government nine years ago in the form of a new draft constitution. She did not know what else the government could do short of handing over the country to the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

She thanked the international community for its support of the peace process, mentioning the European Union, the United States, India, and Japan. Donors had responded to a conference linking development with peace with a large amount of funding for development projects in Sri Lanka’s war-affected areas.

The government also had restructured its development programme to prioritize rural development, including roads, electricity, drinking water, and housing. Sri Lanka enjoyed good education and health indicators, she said, with statistics comparable to those in the developed world. Literacy rates stood at 95 per cent, average life expectancy was age 73, and infant mortality was low.

In response to a question about the role of women, she noted high levels of women’s participation at every level of Sri Lankan society. The exception was in government, where the proportion of women in Parliament and in provincial councils remained very low. "Male chauvinism reigns supreme in the political arena", she said.

(Issued by the Presidential Secretariat)

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/23/news11.html)

No cause justifies terror, CBK tells UN

Pledging Sri Lanka’s commitment to the global effort against terrorism, President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday expressed the belief that substantial progress could be made on the draft Comprehensive Convention of International Terrorism and the draft Convention on Nuclear Terrorism. This was at the 59th sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

"Terrorism in all its manifestations must be condemned and fought relentlessly and globally. While no cause justifies terror unleashed upon the innocent, such outrages must make us redouble our efforts to address their root causes and seek political and socio-economic explanations and solutions to them. We are currently engaged in this task in Sri Lanka."

(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/23/news13.html)

September 11 and the Day After Tomorrow! By U. E. Perera

On September 11 two unfortunate incidents or episodes have taken place in the recent history of mankind. On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, overthrew the constitutional government of President Salvador Allende of Chile.

The presidential palace was bombed by the Chilean Air Force and Allende killed himself in the ruins. Salvador Allende was a popular political leader in Chile and was a founder of the Chilean Socialist Party in 1933. In 1938, he became the Chief Organizer in Valparaiso of the campaign to elect Aguirre Cerda, the popular front candidate, to the Presidency. In 1939, for a very brief period he became the Minister of Health under Cerda's government. He sat in the Senate from 1945 to 1970 and was Vice-President of the Senate for five years and President for two years. He was also the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party in 1943 and stood unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1952, 1958 and 1964. In 1970 he was elected as the first socialist President at the head of a broadly based Popular Front Coalition.

With the assuming of political power, Allende preached a glowing vision of economic and social equality. Nationalization and collectivization sealed new reforms in the country. Although Allende was seen as a saviour to many at home, the United States could not stomach a Socialist in power in their hemisphere. It is a well-known and confirmed fact in the annals of recent history, that the U.S. Government encouraged the coup to destabilize the popularly elected government and rejoiced when it succeeded.

Allende's fall brought General Augusto Pinochet to power for 17 years. During this dark period in the history of Chile, he unleashed appalling violence. According to unconfirmed statistics more than 3,000 people died, and many more-possibly hundred of thousands were tortured. Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt, a historian says that third-class methods were used to silence the opponents of the fascist regime. When the warrants were issued to arrest Pinochet in London, it was alleged that under the authority of Pinochet's regime, a series of punishable actions were committed under the fiercest ideological repression, the purpose of which was the elimination, disappearance and kidnapping of thousands of persons who were also systematically tortured. While these atrocities were mainly conducted in Chile, such activities were also alleged to have been undertaken with the involvement of other states of the region according to 'Plan Condor'.

September 11 is a watershed once again. The United States of America which was not harmed in anyway, during the first and the second world wars, was the victim of a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Nearly 3000 people died in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. In lower Manhatten, on a field in Pennsylvania and along the banks of the Potomac, the United States suffered the single largest loss of life from an enemy attack on its soil.

There was a huge public cry in the United States against the administration of President George W. Bush and in November 2002, the United States Congress and the President established by law the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission. This independent, bipartisan panel was directed to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks, identify lessons learned and provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism.

Among the 10 commissioners appointed there were five Republicans and five Democrats. There were, Thomas H. Kean (Chairman), Lee H. Hamilton (Vice-Chairman), Richard Ben Veniste, Bob Kerrey, Fred F. Fielding, John F. Lehman, Jamie S. Gorelick, Timothy J. Roemer, Slade Gorton and James R. Thompson.

Under the Public Law of 107-306, promulgated on November 27, 2002, this commission was given wide and sweeping powers to investigate "facts and circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001" including those relating to intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies. diplomacy, immigration issues and border control the flow of assets to terrorist organizations, commercial aviation, the role of congressional oversight and resource allocation and other areas determined relevant by the commission. .

Before releasing the final report, the commission has investigated 2.5 million pages of documents and also has interviewed more than 1,200 persons in ten countries. It is stated in the final report that it has held 19 days of hearings and has recorded public testimony from 160 witnesses.

Preface to the final report says:
"We learned about an enemy who is sophisticated, patient, disciplined and lethal We learned that the institutions charged with protecting our borders, civil aviation, and national security did not understand how great this threat could be and did not adjust their policies, plans and practices to deter or defeat it. We learned of fault lines within our government- between foreign and domestic intelligence and between and within agencies. We learned of the pervasive problems of managing and sharing information across a large and unwieldy government that had been built in a different era to confront different dangers".

"At the outset of our work, we said we were looking backward in order to look forward. We hope that the terrible losses chronicled in this report can create something positive- an America that is safer, stronger, and wiser. That September Day we came together as a nation. The test before us is to sustain that unity of purpose and meet the challenges now confronting us."

"We need to design a balanced strategy for the long haul, to attack terrorists and prevent their ranks from swelling while at the same time protecting our country against future attacks. We have been forced to think about the way our government is organized. The massive departments and agencies that prevailed in the great struggles of the 20th Century must work together in new ways, so that all the instruments of national power can be combined. Congress needs dramatic change as well as strengthen oversight and focus accountability,"

Al Qaeda operatives who are being named and blamed for this attack, managed to keep their plans of attack a secret from the U.S. Government until July 24, 2004. A raid carried-out on the house of an Al Qaeda leader in Pakistan uncovered three laptop computers and 51 data-rich discs. Stored on the computers were 500 photographs of potential targets inside the U.S; minutely detailed analyses of the vulnerabilities to a terrorist attack of several of them and communications among some of the most wanted terrorists in the world. In their volume and specificity, the discs amounted to what a senior U. S. intelligence official calls an unprecedented "treasure- trove" of information about Al Qaeda's determination to pull off more catastrophic acts on U.S. soil.

It is revealed that Al Qaeda has cased targets for years before attacking; As an example preparations for the 1998 bombings of two U. S. Embassies in Africa began in 1993. Though the surveillance information on the discs was done mostly in 2000 and 2001, one disc contained an updated photo of the Prudential Plaza building that was added to the Al Qaeda file in January of this year. The discs also detailed the operative's extensive reconnaissance of the design, construction and layouts of four other sites; the New York Stock Exchange, the Citizen Group Building and the Washington Headquarters of both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The computers also contained surveillance of helicopter ports in New York City as well as cockpits and control of helicopters, suggesting that Al Qaeda has investigated the possibility of using them for an airborne attack. "'This new information is chilling in tone, dramatic in its detail and very professional" says a senior U.S. intelligence official.

Criticisms leveled against the United States intelligence community is almost a daily event now in the United States of America. The latest attack, however, has not originated from the media or from Congress but from its own ranks. A recently published book under the title, "IMPERIAL HUBRIS" and edited by one of the veterans of the intelligence community who has remained anonymous, claims that successive U.S. administrations and CIA leaders have under-played or mishandled the threat posed by Bin Laden. Without any hesitation or reservations he condemns the invasion of Iraq as an "avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked war against a foe who posed no immediate threat," noting that "there is nothing that Bin Laden could have hoped for more than the American invasion and occupation of Iraq." His considered opinion is that Bin Laden is safely ensconced in the unruly tribal lands of Pakistan and argues that Al Qaeda may actually become stronger, with a new generation of computer-literate terrorists filling the void left by captured deputies.

The 10-member commission by Mr. Thomas H. Kean has recommended several measures and proposals to safeguard the interests of the United States of America and its citizens. However it has not taken into account the arbitrary & provocative policies carried-out by Pentagon in the post-cold war era. The United States of America is seeking to install a new world order all over the world by not only ignoring the world opinion but even sidelining the protests of American public.

A new world order can only be established by tolerance and compromise. No super power has the right to dictate terms to other nations. If the present political leadership of the United Sates of America is genuinely interested in establishing a new world order on democratic foundation, the first task of the United States is to abide by the collective decisions of the United Nations and safeguard the principles enshrined in its charter.