Sri Lanka to Eliminate Rebels

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan 15--The Sri Lankan military wants to destroy the Tamil rebels and conclude 25 years of civil war on the South Asian Island by force after the ceasefire ends Wednesday, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Udaya Nanayakkara told reporters in Colombo that the military was already putting pressure on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at various fronts in the North, which is partly controlled by the rebels.

"If we continue like this we will be able to defeat the LTTE," he said.

Japan, Sri Lanka's largest bilateral source of funding on Tuesday warned of "fatal humanitarian consequences."

The ceasefire terminated by the government is officially due to expire on Wednesday, when the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is also to withdraw its observers.

The two warring parties have largely ignored the agreement negotiated by Norway during the past two years.

Observers meanwhile fear a marked increase in violence after the six-year-old agreement officially ends and foreign SLMM observers withdraw.

According to earlier statements, the military leadership is hoping for a victory over the LTTE this year.

The Japanese special envoy for Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, said Tuesday in Colombo that Tokyo would only decide on the extend of future aid after observing the situation in the country more closely.

Akashi also warned of an increase in the number of civilian civil-war victims, saying he had informed President Mahinda Rayapakse of his government's "serious concern."

"The conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE rebels would have to be resolved by political means," he said.

The German aid organization Deutsche Welthungerhilfe also said it feared the numbers of refugees in the country's north might increase after the ceasefire.

"The termination of the ceasefire is sending the wrong signal," regional coordinator in Colombo Dirk Altweck said. He warned of an escalation of the fighting as civilians in the north had only little chance of escaping the war.

The Sri Lankan civil war has claimed more than 75,000 lives since 1983.

Norway mediated the ceasefire agreement signed in February 2002.

Source:Alalam News