Who is behind the escalation of violence in the north and east ?

The rise in violence, particularly killings in Jaffna, after the first round of talks in Geneva, is a disturbing trend that is yet to be investigated by the Police, judicial inquiries and the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission.

"We can't say who's clearly responsible for the killings, as there are still many questions on who may have been behind it," said Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to the New York Times. (May 16, 2006).

The mystery of who is behind the killings in places controlled by the government, the LTTE and other Tamil groups has not been resolved by the conflicting reports and lack of evidence.

The LTTE accuses the Security Forces. This charge is frequently advanced by the LTTE saying that the killings take place within a few meters of the Security Camps or checkpoints. Ulf Hendrickson, the retired Swedish major general who commands the monitoring force, told the New York Times (May 16, 2006) that his Monitoring Mission “had received reports of killings in which the police or soldiers could be implicated, taking pains to note that it was not the job of his mission to investigate individual killings, but to present the information to the proper authorities.”

He added: "I don't know how the security forces are involved. It could be individuals, it could be lower levels, it could be fundamentalist elements in the security forces." He said the police had promised to investigate.

Minister Nimal Sripla de Silva, the Government Chief Negotiator at the Geneva talks, said it "condemns all forms of reprisal attacks against innocent civilians."

Government sources say that it is aware of the attempts by the LTTE to provoke the Sinhala community to retaliate and it is taking all precautions to prevent a backlash against the Tamils which would favor the LTTE.

Political observers agree that there is no official policy of the government to attack Tamil civilians though it is possible that individual police and soldiers may go on the rampage provoked by the LTTE attacks on their camps or checkpoints.

The LTTE also accuses the “paramilitaries” meaning Douglas Devnanda’s group or their former commander Col. Karuna who has broken away. Analysts agree that the rivalry between the two main Tamil groups and the other anti-LTTE Tamil parties have contributed to the increasing violence. This week, for instance, the LTTE cadres gate-crashed into a Batticoloa hospital and gunned down two cadres of Karuna’s group recovering from battle injuries.

Karuna’s group has openly declared that it has called off the unilateral ceasefire announced in January as the LTTE has launched its new offensive against them saying that if the Government doesn’t disarm the “paramilitaries” then they will. The killings in the east of prominent LTTE politicians, like Joseph Pararajasingham, MP, are attributed to Karuna’s Group though they have not acknowledged it.

Douglas Devananda has denied any involvement with the killings despite his cadres in Jaffna have been either attacked or killed by the LTTE cadres. The LTTE has accused Devananda of killing of two workers in a newspaper office in Jaffna recently. Devananda’s office has denied such allegations saying that it is not in his interests to kill Tamils.

However, both Karuna’s group and Devananda’s EPDP have accused the LTTE of deliberately increasing the violence in the east and the north to smear them as being agents of the Government. A spokesperson for Devananada said:

“The LTTE is relying on the accusation that the “paramilitaries” are with the government to press their latest excuse to keep out of the talks. They have to prove this and escalating the killings of Tamils in the north and the east is their way of proving that the anti-LTTE groups are involved in killing the Tamils.”

The documented trend reveals that the LTTE has increased its violence since the end of the Geneva talks. The LTTE has been preparing for Eelam IV according to the pronouncement made by Velupillai Prabhakaran in his last annual speech delivered on November 27 – his birthday. He has also admitted that his preparations to launch his war were postponed because of the damage caused by the Tsunami. The standard LTTE tactic has been to target his Tamil rivals and the Sinhalese to provoke a backlash.

The recent explosion of violence in Trincomalee where the Sinhala community went on the rampage against the Tamils is a clear example of LTTE provoking violence to gain political mileage. All community sources agree that the LTTE planted the bomb on the cycle placed near the vegetable market in Trincomalee. The explosion was hear right the round world with the BBC repeating the pro-Tamil media figure of 40,000 fleeing the locality.

According to analysts the LTTE has thrived on creating chaos, backlashes and killings. The current trend conforms to its past performances. The other parties too may resort to violence but not to the same extent as the LTTE which has had no strategy other than increasing and decreasing violence as when it suits its political needs.

(http://news.google.lk/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/3-0&fp=446b61f061c25258&ei=o-trRJC5N4Ku
oQL8kP3UCA&url=http%3A//www.asiantribune.com/index.php%3Fq%3Dnode/138&cid=110
6580253)

Karuna demands payment from Sinhala villagers

The convenor of the All Ceylon Movement for Protecting Farmers' Rights Ven. Dambulle Nanda Thero says farmers in the border villagers have had to give their harvest to the Karuna Group in addition to facing threats from the Wanni Tigers.

The Ven. Thero says the Karuna Group demands 35-40 bushels of rice from farmers and the defence sectors do not take action, although they are informed of the problem.

<>The Karuna Group, a breakaway faction of the LTTE, runs a chain of safe houses in Sinhala and Tamil villages in the Welikanda area, on the border of the North Central and Eastern Provinces. Farmers in the border villages face threats from the rebels and several farmers from Moraweva in the Trincomalee district were gunned down recently while harvesting their paddy fields.

(http://news.google.lk/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/6-0&amp;fp=446b61f061c25258&ei=o-trRJC5N4Kuo
QL8kP3UCA&url=http%3A//www.colombopage.com/archive/May14133653SL.html&cid=0)

Low r

Monitors confirm deep penetration, extrajudicial killings charges

International truce monitors this week said they believed reports Sri Lanka Army troops were conducting Deep Penetration raids into Tamil Tiger controlled areas, killing several civilians. Their comments came as the LTTE said its frontlines to the north and south of Vanni were attacked by infiltrating SLA soldiers. Meanwhile, the international monitors also said Sri Lankan security forces are responsible for extrajudicial killings with the troops so unconcerned as to the consequences as to not even provide plausible denials.

The Nordic-staffed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) office in the northern town of Vavuniya told Reuters Monday it has recorded at least seven attacks in LTTE-controlled areas, including several on civilians.

The monitors believe military patrols are working alongside anti-Tiger Tamil armed groups.

"We believe that the Sri Lankan army and Tamil armed groups are operating behind LTTE lines," truce monitor Bernt Gulbrandesen told Reuters. "There are so many incidents it has to be an organized thing."

Monitors also said that paramilitaries of the Karuna Group were being deployed in Vavuniya.

“I firmly believe that Karuna is going around this area,” Mr Jouni Suninen, head of the district office of the SLMM in Vavuniya told Reuters.

“We have eyewitnesses who tell us they have seen Karunas around. I cannot see how they could be operating here without the support of the army.”

Sri Lanka’s military and government reject accusations that there are backing the renegade LTTE commander in a campaign against the LTTE.

Howver, the monitors in Vavuniya told Reuters they are confident they have evidence. They say they believe Karuna’s men are operating from army camps and carrying out attacks behind rebel lines.

“We have eyewitnesses telling us that they are based in army camps,” said Mr Suninen.

Reuters quoted the Tigers as saying the first attack on them in their controlled areas was a claymore fragmentation mine ambush on a LTTE political wing leader in January, during a spike in violence that preceded a first round of peace talks in Switzerland.

Last week truce monitors said probable Tamil Tiger attacks on the military have been followed by disappearances and open killings of Tamil civilians.

“We have very strong indications that at least part of the government troops have been involved in these killings,” Suninen, an Finnish ex-army officer, said.

“The pattern is clear,” he added. In one case, a civilian was killed 60 metres from an army checkpoint. The soldiers told the monitors they heard nothing.

Suninen said at least 40 people have been killed in the last month by suspected Tigers, soldiers or associated groups around Vavuniya, just beyond the southern border of LTTE-controlled Vanni.

For the first time, the monitoring mission’s field staff were authorised to speak on the record about what they had found. They say publicity is the only weapon they have.

The monitors say suspected military killings target civilians believed to be LTTE-linked.

Ponnuthurai Thayanithi, 27, killed last week, had one sister who had died fighting for the Tigers but was not believed to have any direct link. Police initially refused to come and inspect the body, said Heiskanen.

“This is where the girl was killed in the middle of the day,” Heiskanen said. “As you can see, we’re about 60 metres from an army checkpoint. There are always three soldiers there. The girl had two bullets in her head. They didn’t hear or see anything.”

Heiskanen said he asked the soldiers why they had not noticed the killing taking place within sight and earshot. They said that as the shots were fired, there was a particularly strong gust of wind, so they had heard nothing.

“I said ‘how do you know what was the exact time?’“ he said. “It is ridiculous. They don’t even try to make things up.”

People have disappeared at government checkpoints and turned up dead. A white van seen before some of the killings appears to have moved with impunity through checkpoints and in one case was reportedly seen leaving an army camp, the monitors say.

(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=18154)

More death as war looms in Sri Lanka

`WORRYING SITUATION': Prominent LTTE rebels spoke about the tension in Sri Lanka while another rebel group was accused of working with the army

Two anti-personnel mines intended to target Sri Lankan military vehicles exploded prematurely yesterday, killing a village guard and wounding two policemen in the country's restive northeast, the military said.

Anti-personnel mines, which can be detonated by remote control, are the preferred weapons of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels, also known as the Tamil Tigers.

The Media Unit of the Defense Ministry said the guard was killed and policemen hurt near the port town of Trincomalee -- about 230km northeast of the capital, Colombo -- when the mines were triggered. A military convoy was to travel along the road hours later.

Meanwhile, a senior Tamil Tiger rebel leader said yesterday that the spiraling violence in Sri Lanka is worrying and that they are prepared for a resumption of the civil war.

"It is a very worrying situation," Seevaratnam Puleedevan, a top Tamil Tiger said.

"A low intensity war is already going on, there are lot of civilians being killed in the military controlled areas in the whole north east," Puleedevan said. "If the war is thrust upon us then we are ready to retaliate," he said.

Another senior Tamil Tiger leader accused the government of waging an undeclared war on ethnic Tamils.

Speaking at a funeral for four insurgents killed last week in a suicide attack on a government navy patrol boat, senior rebel leader K.V. Balakumaran on Monday accused the military of deliberately targeting Tamil civilians.

"Our people are being blatantly victimized in an undeclared war by the Sri Lanka government armed forces and paramilitaries," Balakumaran said according to pro-rebel Web site TamilNet.

The government has denied targeting civilians, saying its actions were defensive and blamed the Tigers for the surging violence.

In another development, former Tamil Tigers now part of a breakaway group appear to be carrying out attacks and extortion in Sri Lanka's north and probably have army backing, despite denials, international truce monitors say.

The government denies any links to the so-called Karuna group, but the Tigers appear to have retaliated for attacks by ambushing the army. The rebels say Karuna killings must stop before they will come to peace talks.

"I firmly believe that Karuna is going around this area," said Jouni Suninen, head of the district office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the northern town of Vavuniya.

"We have eyewitnesses who tell us they have seen Karunas around. I cannot see how they could be operating here without the support of the army," Suninen said.

Former eastern Tiger commander Colonel Karuna Amman split from the mainstream Tamil Tigers in 2004, taking control of much of their eastern territories, but was swiftly pushed out by a Tiger offensive.

His group says they have attacked the rebels in the east, but not the north.

A senior Karuna aide and member of his fledgling political party, the TMVP, said there was no truth to the SLMM reports.

Karuna's powerbase is seen as his home area in eastern Sri Lanka, where the group says it has camps. The government says they are in uncontrolled jungle areas, while the Tigers say they are clearly next to army installations.

(http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/05/17/2003308600)

Karuna group has army backing: Lanka monitors

Vavuniya (Sri Lanka), May 16: Former Tamil Tigers now part of a breakaway group appear to be carrying out attacks and extortion in Sri Lanka’s north and probably have army backing, despite denials, international truce monitors say.The government denies any links to the so-called Karuna group, but the Tigers appear to have retaliated for attacks by ambushing the army. The rebels say Karuna killings must stop before they will come to peace talks.

“I firmly believe that Karuna is going around this area,” said Mr Jouni Suninen, head of the district office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in the northern town of Vavuniya.

“We have eyewitnesses who tell us they have seen Karunas around. I cannot see how they could be operating here without the support of the army.”

The monitors will not give details of individual cases for fear the victims could be tracked down and killed.

Former eastern Tiger commander Col Karuna Amman split from the mainstream Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels in 2004, taking control of much of their eastern territories, but was swiftly pushed out by a Tiger offensive.

His group says they have attacked the rebels in the east, but not the north.

A senior Karuna aide and member of his fledgling political party, the TMVP, said there was no truth to the SLMM reports.

“We don’t have any military activities in that area,” he said, denying the group had any support from the military.

Karuna’s powerbase is seen as his home area in eastern Sri Lanka, where the group says it has camps. The government says they are in uncontrolled jungle areas, while the Tigers say they are clearly next to army installations.

The Vavuniya monitors, who track violations of a 2002 cease-fire despite recent violence, say they are confident they have evidence. They say they believe Karuna’s men are operating from army camps and carrying out attacks behind rebel lines.

“We have eyewitnesses telling us that they are based in army camps,” said Mr Suninen.

The government’s reluctance to stop Karuna attacks is seen as a key reason the Tigers pulled indefinitely out of peace talks last month. Violence has since risen sharply and the SLMM says Sri Lanka is now in a low intensity war with the LTTE.

The monitors say both Karuna and the mainstream Tigers are using threats to extract money from local business leaders — but that Karuna members demand more money and have a greater tendency to kill if they do not get it.

Grenades are thrown at the houses of those who refuse to pay, they say, and then the businessmen are kidnapped and sometimes killed. Officials say 10 businessmen have been killed in the last three months in Vavuniya.

The local district judge says he has used court orders to block what he believes are Karuna bank accounts in the eastern towns of Ampara and Trincomalee used in extortion cases.

Local police say they know extortion is taking place, but that they believe Karuna only operates in the east.

“There are a lot of Tamil groups asking for money,” said senior superintendent, Mr J Abeysririgunawardena. “The businessmen in the community, they know the groups. But they are not coming to us.”

(http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=051745)

Tigers, civilians see more attacks in north Sri Lanka

MANKULAM, Sri Lanka - Glancing nervously into the jungle as they secure the main road north, Tamil Tiger fighters say they believe they are already at war and that government troops are operating behind their lines.

International truce monitors say a string of attacks in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territory -- yet more ceasefire violations as violence on both sides becomes what the monitors term a “low intensity war” -- suggest that the rebels could be right. The army denies the charge.

Most analysts say it was the rebels who began the cycle of violence with a series of attacks on troops, but the Tigers blame the government.

“The government has started an unofficial war with the LTTE and we want to face them,” said Tiger fighter Shankar, one of a group of rebels guarding the A9 highway north through the rebel de facto state. “Our commander has advised us that if the government attacks LTTE cadres, we should retaliate immediately.”

Asked if he wanted peace or war, standing next to the rough corrugated iron camp he shares with around 10 other fighters, he said in Tamil: “We like war”.

The Tigers have fought for two decades for a separate Tamil homeland, evolving from a small group of young men to one of the world’s most feared guerrilla armies, 10,000-20,000 strong with powerful naval and Black Tiger suicide bomber wings.

United Nations agency UNICEF says some are abducted as children against the wishes of their parents, but most fighters say they are volunteers. They say they will bite into cyanide capsules dangling around their necks rather than surrender.

Since a 2002 ceasefire, Sri Lanka’s two-decade civil war has been halted. But since early April more than 270 people have died as naval battles, ambushes, murders and air strikes have led to many concluding that the island is once again at war.

Shankar says he believes Sri Lankan troops from wartime Deep Penetration Units are again operating behind rebel territory, launching hit-and-run attacks on fighters and civilians living in the one-seventh of the island under Tiger control.

Behind rebel lines

The Nordic-staffed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) office in the northern town of Vavuniya says it has recorded at least seven attacks in rebel areas, including several on civilians. They believe military patrols are working alongside anti-Tiger Tamil armed groups.

“We believe that the Sri Lankan army and Tamil armed groups are operating behind LTTE lines,” said truce monitor Bernt Gulbrandesen. “There are so many incidents it has to be an organised thing.”

The Tigers say the first attack on them in rebel territory was a claymore fragmentation mine ambush on a rebel political wing leader in January, during a spike in violence that preceded a first round of peace talks in Switzerland.

That followed a string of claymore attacks on the military that were widely blamed on the rebels.

As the number of incidents soars, many civilians say they fear army attacks. But more than that, they fear aerial bombing.

The first official government strikes on the Tigers came in April after a suicide attack on an army headquarters in Colombo. The government hit the rebel heartland near their northern headquarters of Kilinochchi last week for the first time.

The Tigers say no one was hurt, but their persistent refusal to grant truce monitors access has raised suspicions that their fledgling air force headquarters might have been hit.

In Kilinochchi town itself, where many buildings were flattened by bombs and shells during the war, life is getting back to normal. But few civilians share fighter Shankar’s enthusiasm for more conflict.

“I think war has come,” said 67-year-old Subramaniyam Palaniamma, selling baskets in the marketplace. “We believe the bombs will come back. All of us are living in fear.”

(http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/May/subcontinent_May529.xml&section=subcontinent)

One LTTE cadre killed, 2 LTTE, 4 SLA troopers wounded

A Liberation Tigers woman cadre, Yalisai, was killed when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who moved beyond the no-man zone at Palamodai, north of Vavuniya, attacked an LTTE Forward Defence Line (FDL) around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Later, two LTTE cadres were wounded in Jaffna district when SLA soldiers attacked the FDL of the Tigers at Kandalkadu, located near Eluthumadduval between Nagarkovil and Muhamalai in Jaffna district, around 5:45 p.m., according to LTTE sources in Kilinochchi. Direct clash between the SLA troops and the Tigers erupted after the incident. Four SLA soldiers were wounded, according to SLA sources in Jaffna.

The Liberation Tigers have lodged a complaint on the incident with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), LTTE sources in Kilinochchi said.

The wounded SLA soldiers were rushed to Palaly military hospital.

(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=18160)

Claymore blast kills STF elite trooper in Thirukovil

A Special Task Force (STF) elite trooper was killed when a claymore mine exploded around 8.30 a.m., Wednesday. The blast targettet STF foot patrol along the Main Street in Thirukovil, Kalmunai Police sources said.

The STF personnel, Mr.Dharmaretna was seriously injured in the blast and succumbed to injuries while he was being taken to the Amparai general hospital, the sources said.

Sri Lankan Government troops immediately cordoned off the area and conducted a search operation, police sources said.

It is not known if any arrests were made.

(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=18168)

On a bloody front, S.Lanka troops want to hit back by Peter Apps

ALPHA COMPANY STRONG POINT, Sri Lanka, May 14 (Reuters) - Standing by the bloody dust where he says two of his men were shot dead by Tamil Tiger rebels, Sri Lankan Army Lieutenant-Colonel Kumar Wijenayake knows what he wants to do.

He wants to send out his soldiers from their positions some 200 metres (yards) from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territory to flush out rebel fighters he believes crept across no-man's land to kill his men.

Nordic truce monitors say Sri Lanka and the Tigers have already resumed a low intensity war, but the government says it is limiting itself to tactical retaliation and under the terms of a 2002 truce that still holds on paper at least, Wijenayake must hold back.

"I am a military man, not a politician," he says, wearing a sweat and dust-stained khaki t-shirt and with a pistol stuck in the belt of his combat trousers. "I think we should take more aggressive action. The enemy is attacking us, we should attack back."

Diplomats say a lack of compromises on both sides led to the island's peace process stalling. More than 270 people have been killed since early April and talks have been postponed indefinitely. The recent violence looks a lot like periods of the island's two-decade civil war.

On Saturday, violence came to Wijenayake's battalion for the first time with a hit-and-run attack around the front line they hold just north of the town of Vavuniya.

The position is near an ethnic Tamil village abandoned during the war. The majority Sinhalese soldiers do not remember its name. They only know it as the strong point held by Alpha Company, 10th Battalion, Sri Lankan Light Infantry (SLLI).

The troops say three or four rebel fighters crept up on the position in the late morning, picking their way through old wartime minefields. They lay in the brush, watching one of the most exposed sections of the front.

Eventually, two SLLI soldiers on patrol came into view. The suspected rebels fired bursts with AK47 assault rifles. The troops fired back, but the attackers escaped.

YEARNING TO RETALIATE

A bullet through the head killed one soldier instantly. His colleague died later from wounds to the chest and head. Reuters saw the bodies in the hospital morgue, still in tattered fatigues with blood drying on the tiled floor beneath the slabs.

The Tigers deny being behind most recent attacks on the military, but few believe them. The rebels say it is the government that has pushed the country to the fringes of war.

Firing across the front line has become increasingly common, as have increasingly serious naval clashes and government air strikes on rebel territory. Each side blames the other, and both say the ceasefire still holds.

For Lieutenant-Colonel Wijenayake, it is not that clear.

"Morale is OK," he told Reuters, strain clearly visible on the faces of his men as they nervously scanned the jungle. "But because of the ceasefire agreement, we cannot dominate the area. We cannot act in an offensive manner as we were trained."

The monitors say there is no doubt the rebels are hitting the military, but they also believe members of the armed forces are retaliating by killing Tamil civilians. The military denies the charge.

Kanagaratnam Pushparani's niece was shot dead within 60 metres of an army position on another area of the front line near Vavuniya. The girl's sister was a Tiger fighter, and truce monitors say signs of army involvement in the killing are too strong to ignore.

"I strongly believe the army was involved in this killing," she told Reuters in Tamil. "This girl was innocent. She did nothing. The immediate family has gone to the LTTE area. They were so afraid."

(http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL282514.htm)

LTTE Tax Collectors at Chunnakam Market Nabbed

adres belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who functioned as Tax Collectors at the Chunnakam Market, one of the biggest vegetable markets in the Jaffna peninsula, was arrested by the Sri Lanka Army and Police.

The security forces assisted by policeman arrested 6 men, suspected to be the members of the LTTE from the Chunnakam market in Jaffna on Tuesday (09) while they were collecting extortions from vendors inside the market, Sri Lanka Army website revealed.

A search conducted afterwards by the Security Forces was able to detect a receipt book and a collection of Rs 15,000 in cash.

The Security Forces handed them over to the Manipay Police station for further investigations.

(http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/31)

Is Cyber trekking of the LTTE at optimum? by Thanuka

According to a scholar on terrorism, most of the planning and coordination of 9/11 attack was conducted through internet and the FBI Director Ronald Dick was quoted as saying “The hijackers had used internet and used it well”.

It was way back in 1997 the LTTE hacked into Sheffield University computer system to send their propaganda for fund raising. This was done so covertly with the legitimate user IDs and passwords of some academics of the university.

One year later, the LTTE swamped a specific number of Sri Lankan missions abroad with nearly 1000 e-mails a day over a period of two-weeks.

LTTE in fact admitted the offence stating in the Email that " Internet Black Tigers are doing this to disrupt communications."

Wikipedia defines Cyber-terrorism as use of computers and information technology, particularly the Internet, to cause harm or severe disruption to others with the aim of advancing attacker's own political or religious goals. This implies that individuals or groups can use the anonymity afforded by cyberspace to threaten citizens, specific groups, communities and entire countries.

This definition does not seem to cover the subject area adequately. A better definition is offered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They specify that “cyber terrorism is the premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against non combatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine agents.”

Literature also suggests that ‘terrorists may be classified as cyber terrorists whether they solely rely on cyber terrorism to further their cause, or whether they use cyber terrorism in addition to other more conventional forms of terrorism’. That completes both definitions as Cyber terrorism has become a real threat because of a) its own sophistication and dynamics, b) dependence of financial institutions, production facilities, and government functions on computer technology and c) the vulnerability of economies that are increasingly dependent on electronic transactions.

Some argue that the term cyber terrorism simply does not exist because the worst that can happen on the computer is information warfare and hacking which could be classified as a crime and not terrorism. The terrorism label is said to be inappropriately heavy due to its improbability of creating fear of real physical harm or death among people using electronic means.

The need arose to define cyber terrorism with hate websites and hate emails, intrusion into sensitive computer networks gaining momentum. In order to deal with this global phenomenon of the abuse of computers and the Internet, an international convention, backed by national legislations, was needed.

In a case where in 1996, a computer hacker allegedly associated with the White Supremacist movement successfully disabled a US based Internet Service Provider and temporarily damaged part of its record keeping system. This was not identified as cyber terrorism as the intention of the attacker was not to further any political, social, religious, ideological goal.

In 1998, Institute for Global Communications (IGC) was bombarded with thousands of bogus e-mail messages sent by protestors against IGC’s hosting of the web-site for the Euskal Herria Journal supporting Basque independence. IGC had to give in and pull the site. This was considered an act of terrorism as the normal activities of the ISP in cyber space had been disrupted by using a pre planned methodology and the intention of the attackers was to further a political objective.

‘Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare’ authored by Michael Vatis sheds light to cyber terrorism from Governments’ perspective. One is to use the system for disseminating propaganda. LTTE is one organisation that uses the information and cyber technology for dissemination of propaganda. Vatis says the Internet is used for fund raising. Once again the LTTE is leading in that. Internet transactions are found to be much easier for some members of Diaspora to contribute.

Intelligence gathering is another use in cyber technology. To what extent the LTTE is using cyber technology for intelligence gathering, such as hacking individual electronic mail and entering classified data bases etc, is not ascertained, not because it is not important, it is because there are no avenues to tap such information. Hacking has become technically possible and all that the hacker has to do is to download onto computers automated hacking scripts. And one needs is to put in a target, click on a button, and launch the automated script against your intended target or list of targets.

Vatis says ‘terrorists can communicate with their co-conspirators around the world’. Indeed so and the cost would be minimal. Communication is effective. The communication is well secured ‘outside the eyes and ears of government, law enforcement, or security agencies’. LTTE is one group that has exploited this global facility to its utmost.

But how big is the LTTE cyber threat?. This is not assessed. What is known is that LTTE has used cyber attacks on Sri Lankan government sites and also to hack into web sites to alter and send political propaganda. Some people refer to that as the first known instance of cyber-terrorism. But the facts are still far from knowledge as to how much they are using the cyber space for their own development.

The study ‘ E-fying terrorism’ carried out by Ranga Kalansooriya in 2004 was aimed at identifying the electronic face of terrorist and politically violent groups and to evaluate the campaign strategies that they have adopted through their e-outlets.

Kalansooriya described in his study how rebels who were fighting in the jungles or deserts, brought battle into the cyber world. He elaborated that ‘technology has always been a tool of advantage for terrorism since its inception, and the internet – Information Technology (IT) in particular – added new dimension to their strategies, tactics and operations’.

He identified that organizations such as Zapatista of Mexico and LTTE of Sri Lanka as local rebel groups with international reach and they have a significant presence on Internet with the aims of propaganda and fund raising. LTTE in particular, expanded its campaign into the World Wide Web during the very inception of the IT boom. LTTE naturally caters to international audiences including the ethnic Diaspora community.

Kalansooriya’s study brings out the point that contents of rebel websites will never admit that they are engaged in ‘terrorism’ or violence against unarmed civilians. Instead the propaganda will justify as it is the only available option to ‘liberate their peoples from the oppression. ‘ E-fying terrorism’ study when completed in 2004, had predicted that LTTE will be in full force on the web with dozes of websites, supported by other sympathetic and individual web pages catering to the Diaspora and their home countries.

The Sri Lankan Government eventually realised the extent of cyber threat of the LTTE, but any possible counter strategy and methodologies had fallen way short of requirement. LTTE activities have always been driven by commitment while the Government has no such aptitude.

Prof Jeganathan of the University of Chicago, referring to the Tamil Diaspora and Eelam websites stated that these websites "preserve the form of the nation as territory for the LTTE and those who want to believe in its mission". He said that the Pro LTTE Tamil viewers whether they are in the US or in Australia, the Eelam is real, not as a place but as an image although they have no intention of returning to Sri Lanka.

That is the key appoint and the strength that LTTE will carry for the next few decades with or without Prabhakaran. Pro LTTE Tamils argued that propaganda cannot be considered cyber terrorism as politically, each group has a right to express its appeals whoever they are targeting their propaganda at. Such propaganda will invariably have a provision for fund raising.

The anti LTTE factions are trying hard to express the way LTTE is using cyber space and recently accused Pottu Amman for launching sites including www.nitharsanam.com to put out threats, intimidations, hate e-mails, spam, and viruses. They also complain that LTTE operatives exert pressure on the web hosting companies in Europe and North America with the threat that court action will be taken if anti-LTTE stories are not removed.

It is reported that LTTE’s websites nitharsanam, neruppu etc are registered with go-daddy. This company has responded to the complaints stating that they are not expected to judge the alleged illegal activities. This could be true as there is only a thin line between propaganda and disinformation which the legislators can hardly fathom out.

LTTE is using the cyber system for networking among their fronts and cover organisations. The efficiency and cost saving on cyber networking has been immense. Procurement by the KP department has been heavily dependent upon cyber communication that always operate beyond detection.

Nonetheless the LTTE will continue to believe in bullets than bytes. For LTTE the cyber communication has been complementary to their primary activities. It is unlikely therefore that LTTE will resort to high scale acts that can be theoretically identifid as cyber-terrorism as they have attempted in the past.

(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2006/05/11/opinion/01.asp)

Sampur, Ralkudi LTTE camp attacked, 30 killed

An attack on LTTE's Ralkudi camp in Sampur by members of the renegade Karuna faction has left 30 LTTE cadres killed, unconfirmed reports said.

On the night of April 25th, in the aftermath of the suicide attack on the Army Commander, security forces carried out an attack on the Sampur camp.

Trincomalee residents said they heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions last night.

Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said he cannot comment on the incident as the area in question is outside government held territory.

Meanwhile forces have recovered a claymore mine weighing 8 kilograms from Nelliadi, Jaffna. Two suspicious looking men had defied security force orders to stop and fled and the mine had been found when the security forces searched the area.

In another incident in Mannar, a claymore mine was exploded targeting troops returning after duty, but no one was injured as the mine was detonated prematurely.

(http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=2322)

What would happen if LTTE went to a coalition with Karuna? by Lanka Left

Our studies on paramilitary Karuna Group in the Eastern Province has made us to come to a conclusion that the paramilitaries are trying to establish a small territory of their control in Welikanda area utilizing the advantageous conditions from the Sri Lanka military forces.

Very reliable sources from Eastern Province reveal that the paramilitary Karuma
Group has a camp in government controlled Bowatta village in Welikanda.

Around 60 persons are staying in this safe house. Most of the armed persons who are with Karuna Group are underage boys. There are a few former LTTE cadres who defected from the mainstream group around a year ago but the majority of the cadres are new recruits. The group is provided with enough money and other resources such as motor vehicles. They obtain supplies from Welikanda town and the residents, the security forces and the Police in the area know their presence.

There are a few Sinhala youths also with the paramilitary. They participate in the operations conducted by the Karuna Group and are said well paid. The paramilitaries have been nosy about in the civil life of the village and they have proscribed moonshine selling, drinking and quarrelling, say the villagers. At the moment they seem not engaged in political activities but maintain as a paid competent paramilitary group.

Karuna Group operates in Wadumunai, Karapola, Muthugala and Thiruchenai Tamil
villages in the areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers. Our sources reveal that Karuna Group is gaining support from the Tamil villagers of these areas who are in fear of them. It is reported that the LTTE is losing their grip in these areas as a result of it.

LTTE recently attacked several paramilitary camps in Welikanda area. Sri Lanka
government claimed that the area where the camps were situated was in the LTTE
territory. LTTE said the vice versa. Karuna Group spokesman first said that the
camps were located in the border of Batticalao; about 2 kilometers from the LTTE controlled Kaddumurippu, but later said that the area is not governed by both of the parties.

Karuna Group's move to establish an independent territory of control is well
supported by the short sighted Sinhala chauvinist hardliners. Monk Party National Heritage (JHU) recently demanded the Karuna Group's territories be demarcated and it should be engaged in the peace process.

Our observations on Karuna Group make us to take the matter more seriously. Karuna who was the Second-in-Command of the LTTE has not completely lost his ground in Eastern Province yet. LTTE's sudden allegations against him over corruption did not materialise well. The battle hardened rebel will not give away his ambitions easily.

He will seek a position for himself in Tamil politics in future. Although he lost badly in the first round of his sudden defect he continued to fight. That is why he could stay in the game. He is utilizing all the favourable opportunities to establish himself. Karuna Group has opened a political office in a high security area and once they publicly participated in a meeting of anti-LTTE political groups held at a government office in Colombo representing Karuna's political party.

But the support of the Sinhala camp has both good and bad effects for Karuna. Groups like EPDP, EPRLF and PLOTE were trapped in the support of the government military and were reduced to mere paramilitaries. But Karuna seems to try to avoid such pitfalls. That is why he is trying to work on his own agenda creating his own territories. He is trying to maintain some independence. He has been so cunning to utilize ultra Sinhala chauvinist JHU to raise the issue of demarcating territories for Karuna Group and taking him involved in the peace process. It seems an early expression of his plans. Yet he has to go further to achieve this position.

But it is extremely difficult to be an independent Tamil armed movement because all the anti LTTE forces supporting Karuna Group do not want him to be so. They need just a formidable paramilitary and none other than that. EPDP and PLOTE also tried this but could not succeed and finally reduced to paramilitary outfits. Government security forces let them go only to the length they want. Karuna, if understands this situation will try to evade the traps and sneak out through the contradictions his support camp.

Karuna was a hardcore Tamil nationalist and his earlier acts against Sinhalese and Muslims depicted a kind of Tamil racism. He could have not been changed much in that sense after his defection. On the other hand if he needs to be a de facto leader in the Tamil society, a position he held earlier, he has to base among Tamils. Ties with Sinhala chauvinist camp alienates him from the base he targets.

At the moment Karuna Group does not levy taxes and maintains good relations with the people in Welikanda area where they have chosen to base. This strategic strip of land between Trincomalee and Batticaloa is crucial for the LTTE and therefore Army has allowed them to position there. Security forces think that they can control the paramilitaries who are struck in the edge of their territory. Karuna who understands the plans of the security forces is trying to move further in to the Tiger territory as they can be more independent there.

Karuna Group will gain immensely in a war situation. Their military experience will put themselves far ahead of the government forces in the eastern terrains. The government security forces will have to depend heavily on them and will have to pay for that. LTTE will directly target Karuna Group in a full scale war context and therefore Karuna will also have to depend on the government military machine. However the possibility of protraction of war is high. Such a situation will be disadvantageous for both the Sri Lanka government and the LTTE, but not to the Karuna group.

Sinhala camp is playing with fire. They will win the gambling if they will be able to maintain the Karuna Group reduced to a mere paramilitary. But if Karuna could succeed in investing politically in the complex contradictions among the Sinhala camp he will be able to develop as a formidable independent armed group. In such a context he will even be able to bargain with the LTTE. What would happen if LTTE offered him a formal or informal amnesty or went to a coalition with him? There are experiences from the history of Tamil struggle that when such amnesties are offered by the LTTE directly or indirectly Tamil leaders have warmly welcomed them. You can find enough of anti LTTE Tamils, but it is difficult to make them Sinhala chauvinist to accept the Sinhala unitary state.

Narrow minds who are running the politics of Sri Lanka are putting this beautiful country into trouble from trouble. Those who gain from this kind of narrow politics are the rogues who are in European suits, national suits, red shirts and even in yellow robes.

(http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=2321)

Karuna challenges LTTE, Sri Lanka government and international community

"Nobody envisaged us splitting from the LTTE, so the CFA does not cover us."

May 08, Colombo: Sources from the Welikanda area, 250 km east of Colombo, say the Karuna Group is maintaining a chain of camps in the Sinhala and Tamil border villages. There are suspicions that the breakaway faction of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is trying to establish an area of their own control in the region.

The LTTE recently attacked three paramilitary camps in the Welikanda area and assassinated several cadres. The Sri Lanka government claimed that the area where the camps were situated was in LTTE territory, rejecting LTTE claims that the area is in the territory controlled by the Sri Lanka government. A Karuna Group spokesperson first said that the camps were located on the border of Batticaloa, about 2 km from LTTE-controlled Kaddumurippu, but later said the area was not governed by either party.

Meanwhile Karuna spokesperson Thooyavan, speaking to the Daily Mirror by telephone from an undisclosed location, also dismissed allegations that the group was operating with the assistance of the government security forces, claiming that 17 of its cadres are in Anuradhapura prison for carrying arms in government-controlled areas.

“We were not given arms by the government. If the government gave us arms, then they can disarm us. The government has disarmed the groups it provided arms to. We are not a part of those groups. Our group is a splinter organisation of the LTTE. Nobody envisaged us splitting from the LTTE, so the CFA does not cover us. We will disarm only when our leader Karuna Amman tells us to do so. The government, Norway, the SLMM or the LTTE cannot disarm us,” Thooyavan said.

The splinter group led by the former leader of the LTTE Eastern Command, Karuna Amman, does not favor being called the ‘Karuna Faction’ and wants to appear as a political party named Thamil Eela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP).

(http://www.colombopage.com/archive/May8125756SL.html)

Mannar villagers seek safety from SLA deep penetration unit

Fear of armed members of Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are forcing residents of Silavthurai, Arippu and Mullikulam in the Mannar district to leave their houses by dusk and return after dawn, civil society sources in Mannar said. Residents are alarmed at the grenade attack on a house at Savariarpuram in Silavthurai on Tuesday night by a group of armed persons believed to be belonging to the DPU, sources in Mannar said.

Mannar residents say that they have witnessed movement of strangers armed with weapons and fear that members of the DPU are on the prowl during nights in their villages in the Liberation Tigers held area in the Mannar district, civil sources said.

Mullikulam residents are spending their night at St.Mary's Church, Silavthurai residents in St.Francis Xavier Church and Arippu families in a common ground in the middle of the village, sources said.

Villagers have complained to Mannar Bishop and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Mannar, sources said.

(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=18043)

LTTE leaders come under bomb attacks By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, AUG. 15. A series of claymore mine explosions in LTTE- controlled areas targeting senior LTTE leaders has given rise to speculation that either a ``deep-penetration'' unit of the Sri Lanka Army is at work or that feuds within the rebel group are behind the incidents.

The state-run Daily News reported today that a claymore blast had seriously wounded a former bodyguard of the LTTE leader, Mr. Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Quoting intelligence sources, the newspaper identified the cadre as Jeyam, and said he was the ``chief bodyguard'' of Mr. Prabhakaran from 1990 to 1994. The incident took place in Periyamadhu in the LTTE-controlled Vanni ``a few days ago,'' the report said.

This is the sixth such incident in LTTE-controlled territory. The LTTE political wing leader, Mr. S. Tamilchelvam, escaped a similar attack at Kokkavil in May this year while travelling through the Vanni to meet the Norwegian facilitator, Mr. Erik Solheim, but one of the cadres escorting him was killed.

In another claymore attack, this time in Mannar district, the LTTE sea wing deputy leader, Gangai Amaran, was killed along with his wife and child and the driver of the Pajero in which they were travelling.

Within a week of this incident, Balraj, a senior fighting cadre, was targeted at Nedunkerni. Again, it was a claymore blast. He escaped but six cadres in an escort vehicle were killed.

Nizam, a senior cadre in charge of the political wing in Batticaloa and Ampara, was also killed two months ago in Vavunatheevu, which is under LTTE control, in a claymore attack.

Claymore mines are fixed at a height, usually on trees, and triggered by remote control.

The Government is putting out that the attacks are evidence of growing rifts within the LTTE, and that rival groups within it are carrying out mafia-style killings against each other.

One theory which gained ground immediately after the attack on Mr. Tamilchelvam was that it was the work of those in the LTTE against peace talks. The political wing leader is said to be a staunch supporter of talks with the Government.

The LTTE, on its part, is taking the attacks seriously, and perhaps even panicking that a hit-group targeting its leaders is now among its ranks. It said the attack on Mr. Tamilchelvam was the work of a ``deep-penetration unit'' of the army.It believes this unit is working with LTTE renegades who know the area well. According to Tamil sources, leaflets have been distributed to civilians living in LTTE-controlled areas to be vigilant and not to entertain or even speak to strangers. ``Would you betray your own?'' one leaflet asks.

Soon after the Nizam incident, the LTTE ``police'' in Batticaloa declared that they had information that 30 claymore mines had been smuggled into its territory, and carried out several ``arrests.'' According to reports, five of the ``arrested'' were executed summarily in public.

Four of the six routes in Batticaloa to LTTE- controlled areas have been closed down by the LTTE so that it is better able to monitor the daily traffic of traders and others in and out of these areas.

According to unconfirmed reports, the LTTE carried out ``arrests'' in the Vanni too after the killing of Gangai Amaran and the attack on Balraj and two weeks ago.

(http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/08/16/stories/03160005.htm)

Claymore attacks point to cracks within LTTE By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, OCT. 20. Yet another claymore mine attack deep inside LTTE-controlled territory in eastern Sri Lanka aimed apparently at a senior leader of the group has seriously raised the possibility that cracks have developed within its monolithic organisation.

The claymore mine went off seconds after a vehicle, said to be used by Mr. Karikalan, the LTTE's political wing leader for Batticaloa, passed the spot. According to reports, Mr. Karikalan was not in the four-wheel drive at the time, and both the vehicle and its driver escaped unscathed. There is no word yet from the LTTE on the incident.

The incident, in Kadukkamunai in Batticaloa district, came weeks after the killing of Shankar, another prominent LTTE cadre, in a similar attack in the north. Shankar, who bore the LTTE's rank of Colonel, was known to be a close associate of the group's leader, Mr. Velupillai Prabhakaran, and acted as the interpreter during his meeting with the Norwegian special envoy for the Sri Lankan peace process, Mr. Erik Solheim, last year. There have been several attacks targeting senior LTTE leaders since the first unsuccessful one on the overall head of the political wing, Mr. S. Thamilchelvam, in May this year. Some have got their targets and some have failed, but with each attack, the mystery about the identity of the perpetrators has only grown.

The LTTE has pointed a finger at a ``deep penetration group'' of the Sri Lankan army targeting its leadership, the first time anyone has accused it of competence. After initially denying the existence of such a crack unit within its ranks, with the attacks continuing, the army has preferred to neither confirm nor deny the stories of a covert operation by it in LTTE-held areas.

Within the LTTE, there is said to be panic at the efficiency with which the attacks are being carried out. Those carrying out the claymore attacks seem to have an intimate knowledge of the movements of the targeted persons.

Even if a unit of the Sri Lanka army is really behind the attacks as the LTTE claims, the access the perpetrators have to such information makes it almost certain that it could not be without the involvement of the LTTE's own cadres.

But if the LTTE knows or suspects this, it is still a tightly guarded secret. News trickling out from these areas tells mainly of punishment being meted out to civilians suspected of collaborating in the attacks with the supposed ``deep penetration unit'' of the army. It has been reported that some ``suspects'' were even executed.

The LTTE is also reported to have sounded an alarm for extra vigilance by civilians and cadres alike in the areas controlled by it. Thursday's incident was the seventh attack in six months.

(http://www.hinduonnet.com)

SLA deep penetration attacks increase in Vavuniya

Ilayathamby Balasubramaniam, 54, was seriously injured and his lorry severely damaged Sunday around 12.30 p.m. in a claymore explosion triggered by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) deep penetration unit in Vavuniya north, 7 miles east of A9 highway , in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled area in the Vavuniya district, said sources from Vavuniya.


The heavy vehicle came under claymore attack between Ananatharpuliyankulam and Samalankulam, north of Semamadu, on its way to transport paddy, seriously injuring its Balasubramaniam's leg. He was taken immediately to Vavuniya for treatment, said the sources.

S. Gnanam, Vavuniya head of the LTTE political wing, registering a complaint regarding this incident to the Cheif of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Vavuniya who arrived at Pulliyankulam, took the SLMM to the site of attack, where a SLA cap was recovered as evidence, added sources.

Recently, five Tamils were killed in six separate claymore attacks by SLA deep penetrating units into the LTTE controlled area in Vanni besides three Tamils who went hunting hacked to death by the SLA unit, said sources in Vavuniya.

(www.tamilnet.com)

After Loss of Son in War, Sri Lankan Steers Parents to Peace By Nora Boustany

WASHINGTON--After five years of trying to get information about her son, missing after a fierce battle in the heart of rebel territory in Sri Lanka, Visaka Dharmadasa learned that 500 bodies of soldiers had been doused with kerosene and burned in a pile on the killing field where they had fought Tamil separatists.

It was a victory, of sorts.

Dharmadasa's repeated inquiries at the Defense Ministry, the army command and the International Committee of the Red Cross yielded no answers about her second son, 2nd Lt. Achin Tcha. She was not alone: More than 600 families had received no news of the fate of 619 men still missing from that Sept. 27, 1998, battle.

So in April 2003, Dharmadasa took other parents and a film crew to the field. All that remained were helmets, shoulder bags and bones.

``If I had known what we were to see, I would never have taken those parents with me. We just broke down and cried. I was expecting a black patch of land. The soldiers were not cremated, just incinerated,'' recalled Dharmadasa, 49, now founder and chair of the Association of War Affected Women and another group, Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action.

Dharmadasa was in Washington to receive an award from InterAction, an alliance of nongovernmental, U.S.-based international development and humanitarian organizations, in honor of her work on behalf of parents of missing servicemen. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is threatened with a relapse into war despite a 2002 cease-fire between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels who have been fighting for 20 years for a separate homeland.

After that trip to the battlefield three years ago, the parents filed a lawsuit requesting a mass funeral and DNA testing so Buddhist, Muslim and Christian families could collect remains and bury their sons properly. The Defense Ministry carried out the funeral but has not acted on DNA testing.

``When your child or your husband is missing, anxiety increases. When death is certain, you know, you grieve. As time passes and you are still wondering, you cannot move on. Your family is paralyzed, and it can never be the same,'' Dharmadasa said.

Dharmadasa wanted authorities to understand that the mere assertion by the army that her son had not returned was not enough. She urged the military to have a religious ceremony, at least--a flower offering. When families congregated for the Buddhist rite in Colombo, the capital, she distributed the telephone number of the local Red Cross office and asked the family members to bang on the door of the relief organization. Parents learned that the military was not recovering the soldiers' bodies.

She also went beyond the network of military families. Hoping to connect with parents of rebels, she introduced herself at their shrines and other places of worship. '' 'I am the mother of a missing soldier,' '' she would say. '' 'If you don't join me today, the child holding your hand may be lost to you forever.' ''

Parents of the fighters, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, sympathized. ``They were really listening to us,'' recalled Dharmadas, who got them to sign petitions to help end the war.

She took other mothers with her to Jafna, the northernmost Tamil town, to listen to residents there. ``We don't want television and telephones, which you have,'' an old Tamil woman told her. ``We want our dignity. If you can't let us be human beings, then keep us separate.'' Dharmadasa said she came to understand how Tamil residents had grown to resent the majority Sinhalese.

``It is unfortunate that this happened to me. But I want to open the eyes of many others to issues that are not taken seriously,'' she said. ``I have met mothers from Chile, Russia and Kosovo. I am just a mother with no agenda ... but I have also learned how to assume leadership.

``I want to see my country get out of this mess. I want to see women make decisions in the peace process. I want women sitting at the table. I am trying to change things for the betterment of all of us.''

(http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=281529&Category=24)

SL playing into LTTE's hands, says Tamil leader by PK Balachandran

By not providing adequate relief to the Tamils hit by the recent ethnic riots in Trincomalee, the Sri Lankan government is driving them into the waiting arms of the LTTE, says Dr K Vigneswaran, General Secretary of Akhila Ilankai Tamil United Front (AITUF). In a letter to the Sri Lankan government's Peace Secretariat dated April 16, Dr Vigneswaran said that as a result of the bomb blast in the Central Market and subsequent incidents between April 12 and 14, nineteen civilians were dead, of whom 10 were Tamils, 7 were Sinhalas and two were Muslims. Of the three hundred families (1000 persons) displaced, all were Tamils. All the 60 houses burnt were those of Tamils. And all the 30 business establishments burnt belonged to Tamils, he said. Complaining of inadequate response by the Sri Lankan government to this tragedy, Dr Vigneswaran says: "The incidents of 12th, 14th, and 15th April 2006, are being described by the Tamils of Trincomalee as a re-enactment of the pre-July 1983 saga." He was alluding to the infamous anti-Tamil rioting in Colombo and other places in 1983, which had given a tremendous boost to Tamil militancy, a malaise from which Sri Lanka continues to suffer to this day. "The state is getting provoked by the LTTE and is playing into the hands of the LTTE," he charged. "Instead of winning over the Tamils, it is driving them into the bosom of the LTTE," he said. "The Tamils of Trincomalee feel betrayed by the Sri Lankan state," Dr Vigneswaran said. He knows Trincomalee very well because he had been the top most official in the North Eastern Province in the late 1980s and was closely associated with A Varadrajaperumal who was Chief Minister of the NEP. He called for immediate steps to feed the refugees now lodged in three schools; and payment of compensation to the victims and to the families of the dead. Above all, the state should provide security to all communities in Trincomalee and make the police in that area multi-ethnic, with equal proportion of Sinhalas, Tamils and Muslims, Dr Vigneswaran said. The Sri Lankan police are preponderantly Sinhala, the majority community in Sri Lanka, even in the Tamil-speaking North East. Escalating violence Recalling the events, Dr Vigneswaran said that it all began with a claymore mine blast in Kumbupity, in which two Sri Lankan policemen were killed. The same day, at 3.50 pm, a powerful bomb went off near the main market on Central Road in Trincomalee, followed by four other minor blasts. This touched off rioting in several places, with gangs moving about torching properties and even killing some people. The government blamed the LTTE for the episode, but the Tamil media and the LTTE blamed the government. (http://www.hindustantimes.com/onlineCDA/PFVersion.jsp?article=http://10.81.141.122/news/7598_1678568,000500020002.htm)

Karuna not a "paramilitary" because he was trained and armed by LTTE - S.L.Gunasekara, leading lawyer

S. L. Gunasekera, a leading lawyer who participated in the Thimpu talks along with H. L. de Silva, has dismissed the Norwegian and the LTTE argument to include Col. Karuna's group as "paramilitaries" as irrelevant. There is mounting pressure internationally too on Erik Solheim to get off the one-track agenda of focusing on Col Karuna as it does not help the peace process. Political observers say that it helps only the LTTE to survive.

S. L. Gunasekera argues: "Before the Geneva Talks the LTTE was vociferous in their demand that the Government should disarm the Karuna Group. They based their demand upon the premise that Clause 1.8 of the Ceasefire Agreement [CFA] required the Government to disarm the Karuna Group. They were even more vociferous in that demand after the first round of the Geneva Talks and added a second premise as a basis for that demand, namely, that the Government had undertaken to disarm the Karuna Group by the Joint Statement issued after that round of talks.

Both said premises are entirely false.

Clause 1.8 of the CFA reads as follows:-

"Tamil paramilitary groups shall be disarmed by the GOSL by D-Day + 30 days at the very latest. The GOSL shall offer to integrate individuals in these units under the command and disciplinary structure of the GOSL armed forces for service away from the Northern and Eastern Provinces"

The "paramilitary groups" referred to in that clause were indisputably those members of parties such as the EPDP and PLOTE who were armed by the Government to enable them to protect themselves against the LTTE.

Presumably, the rationale on which the then Prime Minister Wickremesinghe agreed to this outrageous clause by which he agreed to disarm our friends while the common enemy of them and us, the LTTE remained armed to the teeth, was a childish belief that the LTTE would honour its undertaking to cease assassinations etc. [Clause 1.2(a) and 2.1] which made it unnecessary for such persons to carry arms for their protection!!!

The Karuna Group was not a group that was armed by the Government to protect themselves against the LTTE: on the contrary they were members of the LTTE who were armed and trained by the LTTE to murder members of the Government, members of the Armed Forces and paramilitary groups, Sinhalese and Muslim civilians and Tamil civilians who did not pay obeisance to the LTTE. The Karuna Group was not, therefore a group that was caught up within the ambit of the term "Tamil paramilitary groups" in Clause 1.8.

Besides, Clause 1.8 envisaged the process of disarming to be completed within 30 days of the 2nd February 2002. Those whom Clause 1.8 referred to as "Tamil paramilitary groups" were clearly not those who would fall out with the LTTE in the future, but only those groups who had already fallen out with the LTTE and bore arms for their protection against the LTTE as at the 2nd February 2002. At that time Karuna sat at the "right hand of Prabakaran" and his group was very much a part and parcel of the LTTE.

Accordingly, it is a monstrous lie to even suggest that Clause 1.8 required the Government to disarm the Karuna Group.

Clause 1.8 was complied within full, within the 30 day period provided for compliance. No complaint of non-compliance was then made by the LTTE which, with its customary dishonesty, made use of such compliance to renege on its undertakings and go on the rampage murdering the now unarmed and defenseless members of the EPDP, PLOTE, EPRLF led by Suresh Premachandran, TELO etc. almost at will. Thus, Clause 1.8 is now "history" and of no relevance today.

The words of the joint declaration upon which the LTTE [and their Norwegian accomplices] depend to further their preposterous contention that the Government is obliged to disarm Karuna Group are the words:-

"The GOSL is committed to taking all necessary measures in accordance with the Ceasefire Agreement to ensure that no armed group of persons other than the Government Security Forces will carry arms or conduct armed operations".

It would be observed that the expression used in this declaration is "armed group of persons" without qualification and not "Tamil paramilitary groups" and that Karuna or the Karuna Group is not mentioned at all.. The term "armed group of persons" would therefore apply to any and every group of persons who are armed other than the members of the Armed Forces and the Police. Thus, the expression "armed group of persons" applies equally to the LTTE, the Karuna Group and all other unlawfully armed groups such as underworld gangs, drug barons and the rowdy brats of uncivilized Ministers and their bands of thugs who terrorize patrons of night clubs.

The question that now arises for consideration is what is meant by the words "in accordance with the Ceasefire Agreement" ? Apart from Clause 1.8 which refers specifically to "Tamil paramilitary groups" and not to armed groups of persons in general, and is, as observed above, now "history" and of no relevance, there is no reference anywhere in the CFA to disarming any person. Clearly those words cannot refer to Clause 1.8. Thus, they can only relate to Clause 1.3 which provides that:-

"The Sri Lankan Armed Forces shall continue to perform their legitimate task of safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka without engaging in hostile operations against the LTTE."

Thus, when the above-quoted words of the joint declaration, and in particular, the words "armed group of persons" are considered in conjunction with the words "in accordance with the Ceasefire Agreement" it must follow that the undertaking given by the Government related only to such armed groups of persons who pose a threat to "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka". Clearly, the Karuna Group now poses no such threat, and the only "armed group of persons" that poses such a threat is the LTTE.

Accordingly, it is patently evident that no undertaking given by the Government to disarm the Karuna Group.

It would be recalled that the LTTE initially said that the Karuna Group was an ‘internal problem of the LTTE,’ which they would deal with themselves and that the Government should not get involved in it. It would also be recalled that one of their chief lackeys, the late Joseph Pararajasingham M.P. said that the `Karuna Problem’ was but a "storm in a teacup!!" Why then is the LTTE and their Norwegian accomplices so anxious to get the Government to ‘wage war’ against the Karuna Group in the name of the CFA ?. The reason is twofold.

Firstly, the LTTE, with all its bravado, is mortally scared of the Karuna Group and wants our Armed Forces [the members of which the LTTE has been foully murdering on a regular basis] to protect them from the Karuna Group.

Secondly, the LTTE and their Norwegian accomplices see in getting the Government to wage war on the Karuna Group, a golden opportunity of securing a separate state of Tamil Eelam without shedding a drop of Tiger blood. They know that Karuna is no fool, and that particularly after he saw the fate that befell the gullible members of the EPDP, PLOTE, EPRLF led by Suresh Premachandran, TELO etc. who surrendered their arms at the request of the then Government, his group will never ever surrender their arms however much the Government may request them to do so. Thus, if the Government seeks to disarm them, the Government will have to wage war against the Karuna Group and sacrifice the lives of the members of our Armed Forces purely to save the lives of the LTTE.

The object of the LTTE and their Norwegian accomplices, therefore is to cause a war between the Karuna Group and our Armed Forces in which large numbers of the Karuna Group and our forces will die and be disabled, while the terrorist cadres of the LTTE remain intact; and to thereafter walk over the bodies of our troops and the Karuna Group to establish a separate State of Tamil Eelam.

It is one thing to call upon or expect the youth of our Armed Forces to sacrifice their lives and limbs for the Country. It is quite another thing to call upon or expect them to sacrifice their lives and limbs to save Prabhakaran and his terrorists from death. Yet that is precisely what the LTTE and their Norwegian accomplices are seeking to inveigle the Government into doing. President Mahinda Rajapakse must not fall into this trap that is evidently being laid for him by the LTTE and their Norwegian accomplices – for if he does so, he will be committing an act of supreme treachery to our Country and our People.

(http://news.google.lk/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/5-0&fp=44471f28ae530452&ei=nwNHRNGWNYXOpwK7s4SpBQ&url=http%3A//www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php%3Fid%3D17592&cid=0)

Paramilitary cadres gun down mason worker in Mavadivembu

Paramilitary gunmen shot and killed a 23-years old mason at Mavadivembu Monday evening around 6:30 p.m. at his mother's house while he was having a meal. Mavadivembu is located 22 km northwest of Batticaloa town. The victim, Thiyagarasa Thaskumar, 23, a father to a child, had returned to his village Mavadivembu on 6th April, after having worked in the Liberation Tigers controlled area, Eravur Police said.

(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=17819)

Suspected LTTE Retaliation Kills Five Passengers In Three- Wheeler

Policemen assisted by troops rushed to the general area east of Puttur in Jaffna on Tuesday (18) night around 9.50 p.m. to recover the remains of five dead men who had reportedly been traveling in a three-wheeler at the time of their murder.

One of the relatives of the victims, Balasubramaniam Kandasan, reached the Puttur Army detachment to report that his brother,Kandasan (26) of Puttur east was found murdered by him close to Puutur centre.

LTTE has launched a massive propaganda campaign to blame the Sri Lankan while the relative of the victims blame the LTTE which they say has launched a retaliatory attacks on dissident Tamils.

Troops with Policemen from Atchchuvely Police Station rushed to the scene and found remains of five dead men lying close to the three- wheeler (WP QA 0767) in which they were allegedly traveling.

All five of them identified as K.Gowribalan (32), Mahadevan Kishor Kumar (20), Balasubramanian Kannadasan (27), Thangarajah Raveendran (27) and Sellappu Kamaladasan (25) were residents from that area.

Police together with the troops were making preparations for post mortem after initial investigations were over.

The motive behind the slaying is yet to be identified.

No arrest has been so far made by the Police.

The Police maintain that the murder would have been carried out by the LTTE as a retaliatory measure.

The SLMM was informed of the murder.

The Atchchuveli Police are conducting investigations.

Meanwhile, another civilian from Colombuthurai area in Jaffna has fallen victim to an unidentified gunman, believed to be a Tamil Tiger, on Tuesday (18) around 4.00 p.m.

The victim has been identified as Balachandran Reginals Roshan (27) of Sebastian Road, Jaffna.

The dead body has been brought to the Jaffna hospital for post -mortem and magisterial inquiries.

The Jaffna police are conducting investigations.

Tamilnet the chief agency for the LTTE immediately released a story blaming the Security Forces for the murder of civilians.

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) denied this story. Army spokesperson said that eye witnesses have told a different story.

The TamilNet blaming the troops that those five civilians were ordered to run through an open terrain near the Army camp before they were shot.

The civilians killed were identified as Kandasamy Gowribalan, 32, a Municipal Council official, Balasubramaniam Kannathasan, 27, Sellappu Kamalathasan, 25, an electrical mechanic, Mahadevan Kishokumar, 20, a farmer and Thangarajah Raveendran, 27, the other auto-rikshaw driver who went searching for the missing persons.

Three dead bodies were found together and the other two were found 200 meters away by the villagers Wednesday morning.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials visited the massacre site. Tension prevails in Puthur.

(http://www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php?id=17692)

Failed LTTE commanders removed from their posts

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has decided to remove the present special commanders of the East of Sri lanka – Colonel Bravo Bahnu of the Batticaloa and Colonel Sornam presently of Trincomalee districts – from their current posts. The Vanni command considers that both have been failures. The Vanni command is concerned about the violence rising against the LTTE and targeting their cadres. Key political figures like Joseph Parajasingham and T.Vigneswaram were gunned down by suspected cadres of the Karuna group.

According to inside information, Colonel Bahnu who was stripped of his uniform and demoted was reinstated and sent to Batticoloa Amparai district as a special Commander with 100 special guards, to replace Colonel Ramesh in the first week of October 2005. Vanni command considers that Col. Bahnu too has failed to check the challenge posed by Col. Karuna’s men in the region.

Further it is believed that Colonel Karuna has openly said that he wants to have Colonel Bahnu either arrested and tried publicly in the East for crimes against humanity, or killed.

According to reports Karuna’s men nearly got Bahnu on 10 October 2005 in an incident in Vavunathievu, nearly 05 kilometers away from Batticoloa. But he managed to escape and survive, according to reports. This attempt confirms that Karuna is serious in targeting Bahnu. The LTTE has decided to move him out of Batticalao to avoid any chance of being arrested alive and the humiliation that may follow of such arrest.

Earlier it was decided to have Bahnu replaced with Colonel Ramesh who was unceremoniously removed in October 2005 by Prabakaran. But LTTE leadership was forced to reconsider appointing Colonel Ramesh back in Batti-Amparai districts as Karuna has publicly proclaimed that his former deputy Ramesh also from Kiran, as the traitor of the East.

Finally it has been decided to bring Bahnu back to Vanni and replace him with Colonel Periya Jeyam although he has been branded as Karuna loyalists.

Colonel Periya Jeyam is one of the senior commanders and was one of the member of the LTTE’s delegation to the first round of talks in Geneva. He is to be assigned as special commander of the Batticalao – Amparai districts.

Although Jeyam has been branded as Karuna loyalists, LTTE leadership is confident that once he is posted to Batti-Amparai as special Commander his loyalty would not waver. He has already specialized in torture. He is also known as a supporter of late Mahathya’s who broke away from Prabhakaran. The LTTE has taken the precaution of keeping Col. Jeyam’s family in Vanni. Holding the family to ransom is the LTTE way of remote controlling Jeyam in case he tries to defect.

Also it has been decided to move Soosaipillai Joseph Antonydas alias Colonel Sornam, the Special Commander of the Trincomalee region based in Sampoor. LTTE leadership is of the opinion that he too has failed in advancing LTTE objectives.

LTTE leadership is of the view that he may be useful if he is brought to Vanni and entrusted with the Jaffna region and Colonel Theepan, the present incumbent of Jaffna region moved to Trincomalee.

(http://www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php?id=17693)

Karuna group armed with captured LTTE weapons

Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) yesterday interviewed Pradeep, the Political leader of TVMP (Karuna’s group), projecting Col Karuna’s group as the new political entity that is emerging as formidable force in the Sri Lankan crisis.

Pradeep said that they have a military wing, a political wing, a financial wing and an intelligence wing. Aaron Lewis, the reporter who interviewed Pradeep in Batticoloa, said that the Karuna Group is fighting with the LTTE weapons they took with them when they broke away from the LTTE in 2004. Some of the weapons were captured from the LTTE cadres.

The camera focused on TMVP pasted as posters or painted on the walls of Batticoloa. Aaron Lewis also showed footage of TVMP soldiers carrying rocket propelled grenade launches, AK 47 and other weapons. He said that the TVMP claims to have a force of 1500 soldiers.

Pradeep told SBS that they broke away because the Vanni group used them as cannon fodder and did not give them the places due to them. Their cadres were never promoted to higher ranks, he said.

Aaron Lewis said that when Karuna defected the LTTE was ruthless. He showed the massacre of the Karuna cadres in a safe house in Colombo. Those who survived regrouped.

He concluded by reporting that if the Sri Lankan government in "unable or unwilling” to disarm Karuna’s Group then "war is inevitable."

The Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapakse, said that no one has proved that the Government is backing the Karun Group. In any case, it is not easy to disarm the Karun Group. It means waging another war, he said. He added that the LTTE id dragging on unnecessarily the peace process because they are not genuine about peace.

Ms. Helen Olafsdottir, the spokesperson for the European Peace Monitors, said that they don’t have proof of “but we know that they are there”. She said that the situation is so fragile that it does not need a big attack to start a war. Events are escalating into a war situation and a little incident can spark off a big war, she said.

(http://www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php?id=17691)

Aussie TV exposes paramilitary presence in SLA controlled areas in East

Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Television’s Dateline program aired for the first time video footage from a training camp of paramilitaries from Karuna Group operating from Government controlled territory in Batticaloa. In the same program, Mr Gothabaya Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan Secretary of Defence and the brother of SL President Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, denies any knowledge of existence of paramilitaries. Previously, Mr Gothabaya Rajapakse had claimed that Sri Lanka forces could win a war against Tigers with Karuna Group's support.

SBS' Dateline program journalist Aaron Lewis who covered the paramilitary issue in Sri Lanka, showed video footage of SBS correspondent's visit to the paramilitary camp of Karuna Group in Sri Lanka Army controlled area in Batticaloa. The footage showed around 30 paramilitary cadres in a show down exercise as proof of the existence of the paramilitary group.

"Secretary of Defence doesn't even believe that these armed groups exist," says SBS journalist Aaron after interviewing Mr. Gothabaya Rajapakse.

When asked about paramilitaries, Mr. Gothayabaya Rajapakse, says: "If there is a responsible group or organization that says, there are still groups, then at least show us where, what area, how, who told you, give us some clues for us to look into, because we have tried, and we are successful in preventing these groups operating into these areas."

Gothayabaya Rajapakse replied in the negative when asked if he believed that there are armed groups operating in Government territory.

"No, definitely not. Definitely not," he repeated.

When the journalist said he had met the group in person in Batticaloa, Mr. Rajapakse, replied smiling: "LTTE can do the same thing, they can take you to their camp and say they are Karuna Group."

Aaron Lewis reports, whether they are called paramilitaries or not, "these groups are not hard to find," adding that he managed to get into the camp after some negotiation.

In the SBS video footage, a Karuna Group operative, Pradeep, presented himself as the Head of Political Wing of Karuna Group. Pradeep claimed that his group operates political, financial, armed and intelligence units, but most of the cadres belonged to the armed unit. The video footage, then showed around 30 paramilitary cadres, armed with Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and AK-47s.

Pradeep claimed that Karuna Group cadres were behind the attacks against the Tiger positions in Vakarai area.

"It is clearly the biggest threat to the peace at the moment," Aaron Lewis comments.

The paramilitary threat, the top of the agenda issue, is destroying the the already fragile ceasefire, the SBS program commented.

"As soon as I arrived, I could see, despite the Government's denial, the Karuna Group's military wing is clearly real," concludes the SBS journalist.

Sri Lanka paramilitary coverage of the award winning Dateline program aired Wednesday 8.30 p.m.

(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=17831)

Three rival militants killed by Tamil rebels in eastern Sri Lanka By DPA

Colombo - Tamil rebels killed three rival militants in a gun battle in eastern Sri Lanka as Norwegian peace facilitators arrive to make a fresh effort to end an impasse between the government and the rebels over proposed peace talks.

Tamil rebels claimed they killed three of their rivals while repulsing an attack by the rival group in the Kiran area, 250 kilometres east of the capital, on Tuesday morning.

Rebels also captured one of their rival group members along with a stock of claymore mines, grenades and automatic rifles, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said.

Earlier on Monday night a police constable was killed by suspected Tamil rebels who fired a mortar into a guard post located in Vavuniya, 254 kilometres north of the capital.

The escalation in violence occurred as Norwegian special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer was due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Tuesday in an unscheduled visit to keep the peace process on track and ensure that talks between the rebels and the government go ahead.

The rebels are refusing to come for talks until their cadres can safely travel from the east to the north.

To end the impasse the government will now allow the rebels to use a private commercial air craft after the rebels refused to make the trip by sea charging navy interference.

The Norwegian envoy is due to meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and travel to the north to meet with the rebel political wing leader S.P.Thamilselvan to discuss the new offer of the government.

Peace talks were due to be held in Geneva from April 19 to 21 and later re-scheduled for April 24 and 25. But it was not clear whether the talks could take place next week as the meeting between the eastern military wing members and the leadership in the north has yet to be arranged.

Rebels over the last week stepped up their attacks against security forces, killing more than 55 people, most of them soldiers and sailors.

The peace talks are aimed at finding a political settlement to the 22-year-old Tamil-minority ethnic conflict which has claimed more than 70,000 lives.

(http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1156283.php/Three_rival_militants_killed_by_Tamil_rebels_in_eastern_Sri_Lanka)

Three paramilitary cadres killed, one captured - LTTE

Three paramilitary cadres who were on a penetration mission into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam controlled area in Pendukalsenai, west of Kiran in Batticaloa district, were killed when Tigers launched a counter-attack on the attak group, LTTE's Kudumbimalai area coordinator Oliyan told media Tuesday. One paramilitary cadre was captured by the LTTE.

The dead bodies of the paramilitary caders were to be handed over to their relatives, Oliyan further said.

The Tigers also captured Claymore mines, grenades and automatic rifles from the group.

The killed persons were from Korakallimadu, Pendukalsenai and Kiran.

The attack group was also involved in the penetration mission last Thursday in Vakaneri, according to Oliyan.

(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=17811)

Col. Karuna tops the list of LTTE and Norway

Col. Karuna is now on the top of the list of agenda of the LTTE and Norway. Both are putting pressure on the Sri Lankan government to disarm Karuna, former No: 2 LTTE leader and presently the leader of the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP). Initially, when Karuna broke away from the LTTE in March 2004, the LTTE dismissed it as an "internal affair". Their attempts to control Col. Karuna has failed since then. Their next move has been to get the Sri Lankan government to disarm Col. Karuna's group entrenched in the east.

Yesterday when S.P Tamilselvan, Head of the LTTE Political Wing, met the new Norwegian envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer at the Peace Secretariat in Killinochchi, Karuna figured prominently in their discussions.

Tamilselvan launched a personal attack on the leader of the TMVP when he met the reporters at Kilinochchi later.

He said : "Karuna is despised by the Tamil people"

He added : "The military is making use of Karuna as an agent to carry out abductions, killings, torture, extortion and various acts of violence against the civilian population with a view to create dissent."

However, Hagrup Haukland, the head of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission, told a Sri Lankan newspaper before he left that there is no evidence to link the Sri Lankan army to the "paramilitaries".

Tamilselvan met both Hanssen Bauer visited Kilinochchi accompanied by Ambassador Hans Bratskar. Tamilselvan briefed the Norwegian team on the current political situation in the backdrop of Geneva talks and expressed concern and disappointment over non-fulfilment of government pledges relating to the activities of the para-military groups in the government-controlled parts of the east.

Tamilselvan said, "Our expectations were very high when the government delegation pledged in Geneva to end para-military activities and we are totally disappointed now over the accelerated pace of para-military violence in open violation of both the CFA and the Geneva agreement."

"Expression of good will through demonstration of the intent to bring about normalcy in the life of the Tamil people living under military occupation and para-military threat is a matter that the government need to seriously address to build confidence and make progress in the process" emphasized Tamilselvan requesting the facilitators to convey this concern to the Government.

" There is limited time for the government to prove they are genuine before the next round of talks and their good will," he said.

"The decisions and implementation in the next few days would decide the next round of talks," he added. The rebels have said they will likely attend talks on April 19-21 in Geneva, but have warned there will be no progress without active disarmament.

In the meantime, Hanssen-Bauer, a peace adviser at Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs who has taken over day-to-day oversight of the peace process from Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim, said the onus was on the Tigers and the government to make the talks work.

"It's up to the parties to make use of the possibilities in Geneva . We cannot define the content nor how it would happen," Hanssen-Bauer said before leaving the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi. "I think both parties realise that peace is on the way."

The delegation assured that these matters would be conveyed to the president in their meeting with him tomorrow.

In the meantime, Hanssen-Bauer met Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva, who was the Sri lanka Government’s chief spokesperson on the Geneva talks, on 04. Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva reiterated that the Sri Lankan Government has taken all possible steps to fulfill the decisions arrived at the first round of talks held last month between the Government and the LTTE in Geneva.

Minister expressed Government's commitments towards the peace process when he met the new Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer on Monday at his Ministry.

The new Norwegian envoy told the Minister that he looks forward for the active support and cooperation of both the parties involved to make this talks success and expressed the hope that he would be able to accomplish the responsibilities bestowed on him to highest satisfaction of the parties involved.

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the Sri Lankan Government has taken all possible measures to fulfill the decisions arrived at the first round of talks held last month in Geneva. The Minister apprised the new envoy of the steps taken by the Government to continue the peace process in an atmosphere conducive and beneficial to all communities in the country.

The Minister also explained him the details of the discussion held with the Swiss Ambassador , the host to the two delegations in Geneva. They met last week to finalize the arrangements for the second round of talks scheduled to be held in Geneva in the third week of April.

The Minister said that there was no change in the stance of the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in resolving the ethnic problem through a negotiated settlement. He also said that the victory in the recently concluded elections to local Government authorities has brought more strength and courage to the Government to carry forward its policies and programmes for peace under Mahinda Chinthanaya in more pragmatic way.

Ambassador of Norway Sri Lanka Hans Brattska was also associated at this discussion.


(http://www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php?id=17535)

Two paramilitary cadres wounded in Panichchankerni

Two Karuna Group paramilitary cadres were wounded in Panichchankerni, 60 km north of Batticaloa, Wednesday around 5:30 p.m., when Liberation Tigers launched a counter-attack on the paramilitary cadres penetrating into the Liberation Tigers controlled area, eyewitnesses said. A key paramilitary operative, Chooty, wounded in his stomach was transported to the Kirimichchai SLA camp in a motorbike which the withdrawing paramilitary cadres hijacked from a civilian traveller.

Later, the civilian owner of the motorbike managed to recover his vehicle near the Kirimichchai Sri Lanka Army camp, eyewitnesses further said.

The withdrawing paramilitary cadres, wearing military fatigues, were seen 75 meters close to the Kirimichchai SLA camp by the eyewitnesses.

The retreating group was armed with mortars and automatic-rifles, the sources said.

Panichchankerni is a village in the LTTE controlled region in Batticaloa north.

(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=17683)