Attacks threaten Sri Lankan truce
Thursday, July 14, 2005; Posted: 11:35 p.m. EDT (03:35 GMT)
Sri Lankan security forces are now on high alert.
Mortgage Rates Fall Again
Get $150,000 loan for $720 per month. Refinance while rates are low.
www.lowermybills.com Save on All Your Calls with Vonage
When looking for local regional and long distance calling, use Vonage to make...
www.vonage.com MyCashNow - $100 - $1,500 Overnight
Payday Loan Cash goes in your account overnight. Very low fees. Fast decisions....
www.mycashnow.com Unique Gift Ideas at GiftSense.com
Your source for gifts for all occasions. Find it here now.
www.giftsense.com\8892
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Sri Lanka
Military
Guerrilla Activities
or Create Your Own
Manage Alerts | What Is This? COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Sri Lanka's cease-fire teetered on the brink of collapse Friday after the military accused rebels of a spate of attacks on security forces and rebels said the government failed to meet their demand to boost security for their political representatives.
The rebel Tamil Tigers were expected to detail their dissatisfaction over the unmet security demands in a letter Friday to the government, rebel spokesman Daya Master said.
Suspected Tiger rebels on Thursday attacked a police post in eastern Sri Lanka, wounding nobody, and tried to shoot a group of navy personnel in a clash that killed one attacker.
Another militant was injured and another captured. They were they latest in at least 10 attacks on security forces since Tuesday, wounding more than two dozen people, military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said.
The spate of attacks on security forces was the most intense since Norway brokered a cease-fire between the two sides in 2002, spokeswoman Helen Olafsdottir, of the European team monitoring the accord, said.
"The situation is a nightmare and most dangerous," she said Thursday.
European truce monitors rushed to the rebels' northern heartland late Thursday to meet guerrilla leaders to try and avert more attacks.
Sri Lankan security forces said they went on high alert Thursday, a day after rebels shut down political offices in government-controlled areas, accusing the government of failing to protect rebels who are allowed to travel through those areas under the 2002 accord.
The rebels had given the government 14 days before Thursday's deadline to improve security -- or risk a return to civil war.
The demand was prompted in part by a bomb that narrowly missed a bus carrying 41 rebels last month. Subsequently, two senior rebels were gunned down.
The rebels blame the military. The military blames factional fighting.
The government on Monday agreed conditionally to increase the Tigers' security escorts, but the guerrillas were not satisfied.
The Tigers were "very serious about the deadline," Joseph Pararajasingham, a lawmaker of the Tamil National Alliance -- considered a proxy party of the rebels -- told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Sources close to the rebels said the Tigers might resort to using their own armed escorts while traveling through government-controlled areas -- a violation of the cease-fire that could lead to a confrontation with government forces and the collapse of the truce.
The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils in the country's north and east, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The conflict killed nearly 65,000 people before the 2002 cease-fire.
Post-truce peace talks have been stalled since 2003 over rebel demands for wide autonomy.
They had a truce? Truce maybe, but the Tamil Tigers did not sign the peace treaty with the Singalese government. Tamils are never going to sign a peace treaty with the Sri Lankan Government, they are awaiting a massive uprisal. There is going to be a big war in that country, don't know when. Anyone care to argue?
Thursday, July 14, 2005; Posted: 11:35 p.m. EDT (03:35 GMT)
Sri Lankan security forces are now on high alert.
Mortgage Rates Fall Again
Get $150,000 loan for $720 per month. Refinance while rates are low.
www.lowermybills.com Save on All Your Calls with Vonage
When looking for local regional and long distance calling, use Vonage to make...
www.vonage.com MyCashNow - $100 - $1,500 Overnight
Payday Loan Cash goes in your account overnight. Very low fees. Fast decisions....
www.mycashnow.com Unique Gift Ideas at GiftSense.com
Your source for gifts for all occasions. Find it here now.
www.giftsense.com\8892
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Sri Lanka
Military
Guerrilla Activities
or Create Your Own
Manage Alerts | What Is This? COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Sri Lanka's cease-fire teetered on the brink of collapse Friday after the military accused rebels of a spate of attacks on security forces and rebels said the government failed to meet their demand to boost security for their political representatives.
The rebel Tamil Tigers were expected to detail their dissatisfaction over the unmet security demands in a letter Friday to the government, rebel spokesman Daya Master said.
Suspected Tiger rebels on Thursday attacked a police post in eastern Sri Lanka, wounding nobody, and tried to shoot a group of navy personnel in a clash that killed one attacker.
Another militant was injured and another captured. They were they latest in at least 10 attacks on security forces since Tuesday, wounding more than two dozen people, military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said.
The spate of attacks on security forces was the most intense since Norway brokered a cease-fire between the two sides in 2002, spokeswoman Helen Olafsdottir, of the European team monitoring the accord, said.
"The situation is a nightmare and most dangerous," she said Thursday.
European truce monitors rushed to the rebels' northern heartland late Thursday to meet guerrilla leaders to try and avert more attacks.
Sri Lankan security forces said they went on high alert Thursday, a day after rebels shut down political offices in government-controlled areas, accusing the government of failing to protect rebels who are allowed to travel through those areas under the 2002 accord.
The rebels had given the government 14 days before Thursday's deadline to improve security -- or risk a return to civil war.
The demand was prompted in part by a bomb that narrowly missed a bus carrying 41 rebels last month. Subsequently, two senior rebels were gunned down.
The rebels blame the military. The military blames factional fighting.
The government on Monday agreed conditionally to increase the Tigers' security escorts, but the guerrillas were not satisfied.
The Tigers were "very serious about the deadline," Joseph Pararajasingham, a lawmaker of the Tamil National Alliance -- considered a proxy party of the rebels -- told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Sources close to the rebels said the Tigers might resort to using their own armed escorts while traveling through government-controlled areas -- a violation of the cease-fire that could lead to a confrontation with government forces and the collapse of the truce.
The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils in the country's north and east, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The conflict killed nearly 65,000 people before the 2002 cease-fire.
Post-truce peace talks have been stalled since 2003 over rebel demands for wide autonomy.
They had a truce? Truce maybe, but the Tamil Tigers did not sign the peace treaty with the Singalese government. Tamils are never going to sign a peace treaty with the Sri Lankan Government, they are awaiting a massive uprisal. There is going to be a big war in that country, don't know when. Anyone care to argue?
Comment