Folks !

We are moving !

new blogspot site :

http://srilankainfocus.blogspot.com

3 suspected Tigers held in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Three Sri Lankan nationals suspected to have links with the LTTE have been arrested by the crime branch of Delhi Police. The three men, who are being questioned by a joint team of Delhi Police and Intelligence Bureau, were found carrying forged Indian passports.

Delhi Police has written to the ministry of external affairs for verifying their antecedents with the Interpol and Sri Lankan government. All three were arrested from a hotel at Paharganj by the newly formed special operation squad (SOS) of the crime branch.

The three Sri Lankans, all residents of Jaffna, were identified as Francis Jansan (29), Thisaveera Singham Ranjith (28) and Jon Mary Agashtan (22). The police also arrested another man, Ayyakannu, a resident of Chennai who was accompanying them. All four have been remanded to police custody.

The Sri Lankans have told the police that they had fled from their country and they were on their way to France.

Source: Times of India

Sri Lanka ceasefire formally ends

By Roland Buerk
BBC News, Colombo

The ceasefire between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tigers formally comes to an end on Wednesday.

The government gave notice two weeks ago it was pulling out of the agreement which was brokered by Norway in 2002.

Fighting has been going on in the north and east of the island for around two years despite the truce.

Tamil Tiger rebels said on Thursday they were "shocked and disappointed" that the ceasefire was ending, but pledged fully to defend themselves.

'Severe casualties'

As the ceasefire came to an end fighting continued along the frontlines that surround territory held by the Tamil Tigers in northern Sri Lanka.

The government says the rebels, who want an independent state in the north and east, used the peace pact signed in 2002 to rearm and regroup. It now aims to crush them by the end of this year.

But speaking from the north the head of the Tigers' political wing B Nadesan said they would fight back.

"For last 30 years they are making these type of statements but it will never happen," he said.

"We are in a strong position, our cadres... have the strength to defend this military offensive.

"Definitely if they try to launch a major offensive against our forces the Sri Lankan forces will face severe casualties."

Doubts

The government now says it will produce within weeks a long delayed package of devolution proposals.

It is seeking to sideline the separatist Tigers and resolve with other groups the complaints of the Tamil minority that they have been marginalised for decades by Sinhalese-dominated governments.

But there are serious doubts over whether the scheme can work.

As the last hours of the ceasefire ticked away the Japanese peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi, held meetings with government officials in Colombo.

Japan is a major donor to Sri Lanka and has hinted it might reconsider its aid package, warning of the dire humanitarian consequences of an intensified war.

Source: BBC NEWS

DefenceWire : Falsifications Galore

Describing the killing of LTTE’s Military Intelligence Leader Charles, a prominent civilian defence columnist writing for an English Weekly has claimed that a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) of the Special Forces ‘shot him dead’ while he was assisting Sea Tiger Leader Soosei fortify Veduthalthivu base. We wish to announce to our readers that this report is completely inaccurate.

Charles was killed by a 15kg Claymore Mine (side charger) specially made for him by the LRRP. He was killed while traveling along the Mannar-Pooneryn road on Sunday January 5th. Two of his key lieutenants were also killed in the attack. Charles was the overall coordinator of all intelligence and strike teams operating in government controlled areas. He was traveling towards Mannar to plan another attack in government areas, not to beef-up security to Veduthalthivu.

LTTE Leader Pripaharan was a noted absentee in Charles’ funeral. He has been exercising extreme caution regarding his movements. Poddu Ammaan, the stealthiest among the LTTE, was present. Even other mid-level leaders like Banu and Jeyam have started using motorcycles when moving around LTTE areas. This all came after the shocking assassination of the highly secretive and intelligent operative, Charles, who was responsible for coordinating and personally directing attacks on key military bases and political and military leaders from Colombo, Batticaloa and Kilinochchi.

Meanwhile, Tiger Television NTT, followed by other web-based sites claimed that 30 SLA were killed in Parappakandal on Monday and that one body was captured. We wish to inform our readers that this report is also a complete fabrication. A senior military official regading this report, told DefenceWire that the Tigers are fabricating these reports ‘while on the run’.

The Sri Lanka Army is now in close proximity to the sacred Madhu Shrine. SLA has no immediate desire to capture the Church. Task Force I under Maj. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya has deployed offensive formations to strike specific locations in enemy territory. Troops numbering 1000-1500 are deployed in several formations with a specific objective to achieve for each formation. These operations maximize the use of SLA’s resources while creating a split in the LTTE’s defensive formations by stretching them beyond capacity.

Source: Defencewire

http://defencewire.blogspot.com/

Defencenet: "1983-2008: 4 Ceasefires, 4 Eelam Wars"

In a few more hours, on the 16th of January, the cease-fire agreement signed between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will become invalid and the 4th Eelam War will officially begin. In the three decade long war, there has been four major cease-fire agreements between the warring parties. Each and every one of such agreements has ended without lasting peace for the island nation.

The first official ceasefire between LTTE and GOSL was signed back in 1987. However this only lasted for a few months. In October 1987, the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) arrested 17 sea tigers who were transporting arms using a large vessel from India to Point Pedro in Sri Lanka. Repeated LTTE requests to release the prisoners were turned down by then Defense Minister late Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali. The issue reached its climax when 12 of the arrested LTTE cadres committed suicide by consuming cyanide while they were being transported to a prison in Colombo. LTTE retaliated by torturing and killing 8 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who were under their captivity. Mutilated bodies of the slain soldiers were publicly displayed in the city of Jaffna. This incident marked the end of the ceasefire and the 1st Eelam War commenced soon afterwards.

Next CFA was signed between the government and LTTE in 1990. LTTE operatives were brought to Colombo via SLAF helicopters for peace talks with the then president late Mr. Ranasinghe Premadasa. However peace did not last long. LTTE officially pulled out of the CFA on 11th of June 1990, alleging that a group of SLA soldiers assaulted a tailor (who was also a member of the LTTE) in the eastern town of Batticaloa. Immediately after their withdrawal from CFA, LTTE fighters under the command of Karuna Amman launched multiple raids on police posts in Batticaloa, massacring over 600 policemen. This incident officially declared the start of second Eelam War.

In 1994, 2nd Eelam war temporarily ended when Chandrika Bandaranayake invited the LTTE for peace talks shortly after her victory in the presidential election. Several rounds of peace talks were held but progress in devising a solution that could bring lasting peace for the island was was extremely slow. On the 15th of April, LTTE launched dual suicide attacks on Sri Lanka Navy warships SLNS Sooraya and SLNS Ranasuru anchored in Trincomalee harbor. Both the ships were critically damaged in the incident. 3rd Eelam War which commenced soon afterwards saw some of the bloodiest battles in the conflict's history.

War raged on for seven years until the current CFA was signed in February 2002. Although it continued to hold on paper, tension between the two parties has been high since late 2002. Army's military intelligence wing suffered a setback during this period when 81 of its operatives were assassinated by LTTE pistol gang operatives. The LTTE also suffered a major setback in this period when one of its senior cadres, Colonel Karuna, separated along with 4000 cadres and military equipment. The Sri Lanka Air Force began flying tit-for-tat sorties on LTTE positions on the day the rebels attempted to assassinate the country's military commander using a suicide bomber.

Army launched its first offensive since 2002 when a key waterway which supplied water to 30000 farmers, was blocked by LTTE units in the area. The drawn out offensive eventually captured the Mavil Aru anicut. LTTE's next move was unprecedented; they launched a military operation into Muttur (eastern province) and surrounding army bases (August 2006). Muttur was in LTTE hands for over a day till the army fought its way back and took it under complete control. Another attack was simultaneously launched on Jaffna defense lines. By this time Jaffna was isolated from all MSR (Main Supply Routes) with Trincomalee harbor and Palaly airbase rendered useless due to heavy LTTE artillery shelling. On the first day of fighting in Jaffna, LTTE units broke through army defenses and advanced nearly a kilometer into SLA held territory. Later the army's U.S. trained 53rd division inflicted heavy casualties on LTTE forcing them to abandon the offensive. Army's counterattack not only recaptured areas that were lost but overran the 1st LTTE defense line at Muhamalai in September 2006. Later the military launched fresh offensives to capture all major LTTE bases in the eastern province. These operations were largely successful and saw the fall of eastern tiger enclaves such as Sampoor, Vakarai and Thoppigala.

Now, by 2008, the army has opened three fronts near entry points to Wanni LTTE heartland. 57th, 58th and 59th offensive divisions have made inroads to Wanni from Mannar, Vavuniya and Weli Oya respectively while the elite 53rd division and 55th division have kept pressure on LTTE formations from the north. Military commander has just declared that the operation to overrun LTTE bases in Wanni has officially begun. LTTE has expressed its willingness to commit to the CFA but at the same time some its senior commanders have vowed to crush the army. With all these new developments, the cease fire agreement ends tomorrow (16th) and the undeclared 4th Eelam War will officially commence. Major battles are on the horizon and they will decide what the future holds for Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers and Tamil Eelam.

Source: Defencenet

http://defencenet.blogspot.com

Sri Lanka celebrates Thai Pongal

Jan 15, Colombo: Sri Lankan Tamils joining the Hindus all over the world celebrated the Thai Pongal day this morning at a grand scale.

Businessmen in Colombo were seen boiling milk in front of their shops and cooking milk rice. Large number of fire crackers was lighted in Colombo and suburbs.

It has been reported that catholic churches in the East and Muslim businessmen in the Vavuniya town also joined the celebration this morning.

Hindus, celebrate the Thai Pongal after the collection of harvest to express their gratitude to the sun, rain and the farm animals. The celebration dates back to the 9th century when the Chola emperors ruled the southern India.

Source: Colombopage

(Pictures:AP/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Sri Lanka crisis set to worsen : Al Jazeera

By M.R. Narayan Swamy

The Sri Lankan government's decision to dump the Norwegian-brokered and internationally-backed Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) can only result in more bloodshed in a country where ethnic strife has raged for 25 years.

A formal declaration of war, if and when it happens, will lead to more misery as the fighting is bound to be more intense.

Although the CFA of February 2002 had more or less collapsed in recent years, the reluctance of the two parties to formally jettison it gave rise to hope that there was still something left to build on.

But the Sri Lankan military's success last year in driving away the LTTE from the country's eastern province, after a gap of some 15 years, gave the government new-found confidence.

Dominant sections in the administration of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president, concluded that it was a matter of time before they could choke the LTTE in its long-established stronghold in the island’s north.

And they did not want the CFA and its provisions aimed at preventing war to stand in the way.

Axing the CFA

However, vanquishing the LTTE is not going to be easy. The LTTE – which remains one of the best organised insurgent groups in the world despite its recent military reverses – has always displayed a remarkable ability to bounce back from the brink of defeat.

Although it is now facing one of its bleakest moments, there are no indications so far that says the LTTE is about to give up.

In axing the CFA, Sri Lanka has seriously dented the Western support it enjoyed in the war against the Tamil Tigers.

Although there was considerable dismay over the massive human rights violations blamed on the military and anti-LTTE Tamil groups allied to it, the world at large remained largely sympathetic to Colombo.

Sri Lanka was further emboldened by the fact that since 2005, the LTTE had been banned in Canada as well as the 27-nation European Union, in addition to earlier bans in India, the US, Britain and Malaysia.

The Tigers, who maintain overt and covert presence almost all over the world, are also under watch in countries where they have not been formally declared a terrorist organisation.

International disapproval of Colombo's move is already evident.

The US has pledged to end its military backing although some Sri Lankan officials say critical supplies will not cease.

Canada, home to the largest Tamil population outside of Sri Lanka, has voiced distress. So has the European Union. The Nordic countries, which at one time provided monitors to oversee the CFA, have warned of dark days ahead.

India, Sri Lanka's biggest and most important neighbour, made mildly critical remarks, reiterating that there can be no military solution to the conflict in which over 65,000 were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since 1983.

Intractable

Sri Lanka today has become as intractable as the Middle East. But sans the oil, it receives much less international attention. A once simple, although bloody Tamil-Sinhala fight, with only India taking a keen interest, has now assumed menacing proportions and involves several domestic and foreign actors.

The government remains locked in conflict against the LTTE, while the latter is engaged in a vicious war against a faction that broke away in 2004. The breakaway outfit (whose leader is now in custody in Britain) has further split in two, each trying to outdo the other with the gun.

In the country's multi-racial eastern province, there is growing radicalisation among sections of Muslims, who speak Tamil but consider themselves a distinct minority.

The two dominant political parties – President Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the main opposition United National Party – refuse to engage one another to build a pan-Sinhala consensus so vital to prepare a nationally acceptable power sharing formula to placate the minorities.

And to make things more difficult, some Sinhalese Buddhist groups remain opposed to any federal form of governance that non-LTTE Tamils clamour for.

Decades of war has begun to take a toll on the country's social fabric. International mediators, who in 2002 thought they would be able to bring peace, have realised what India knew long ago: If the conflict gets easily resolved, it will indeed be a miracle.

Elusive reconciliation

Why does peace elude Sri Lanka? Why did the killer tsunami that helped end a raging conflict in Indonesia’s Ache province fail in this Indian Ocean island country? Why does and how long can the LTTE keep fighting? Can they survive the government’s determined bid to eliminate it?

Surprisingly, the answers are not hard to seek. Ever since the Tamil campaign for an independent state comprising Sri Lanka’s northeast began to gather force in 1983, the LTTE believed it could win – one day.

Once it became the dominant player by decimating other Tamil groups and then taking on the Indian peace keeping troops deployed in the northeast, it became the de facto ruler of the region, particularly Jaffna, the Tamil heartland.

After Sri Lanka seized Jaffna in December 1995, the LTTE hit back viciously, handing the military one setback after another until the government brought in Norway as a facilitator to hold talks with the Tigers. This led to the CFA.

Contrary to public knowledge, the Indian establishment played a key role in the drafting of the agreement. This is a key reason India remained solidly supportive of Norway’s role in Sri Lanka.

Détente

The ceasefire years undoubtedly brought unprecedented peace to a region ravaged by war, but at a cost. Its biggest success was that it halted fighting between the government and the LTTE, saving an estimated 10,000 lives in the first three years at least. But in the very nature of the agreement's birth lay the seeds that ultimately tore it apart.

The truce justified the LTTE's de facto control of large parts of the northeast even as the Tigers hunted down rival Tamils and, later, members of the Sri Lankan intelligence establishment.

Norway's failure to take into confidence Chandrika Kumaratunga, the then president, led her to undermine Ranil Wickremesinghe, the prime minister who had signed the pact. The yawning gap between the LTTE and Colombo over the way forward could not be narrowed by the peace talks the two sides held in foreign countries, with Norway playing the referee.

Three significant developments took place in 2003-04 that sealed the CFA's fate. First, the LTTE walked out of the peace talks process, citing Washington's refusal to invite it to an international donors meet on Sri Lanka.

LTTE divide

In March 2004, an unprecedented split took place in the LTTE when Karuna, its eastern regional commander, broke away along with thousands of guerrillas. The next month, Wickremesinghe lost power after elections and the new government began to team up with the Karuna faction to snipe at the LTTE.

The LTTE's assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005 after one of its senior commanders was similarly killed blew the fuse. Norway, which by then was being accused of favouring the LTTE, took up the matter with Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE's chief.

In November, Rajapaksa, seen as a hardliner belonging to the majority Sinhalese community, was elected president. After giving the new president an year's time to resolve the ethnic crisis, the LTTE began to target Sri Lankan troops.

The LTTE attempted in 2006 to assassinate two high profile targets, Sarath Fonseka, the army chief, and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the defence secretary and the president’s younger brother who was spearheading the war against the LTTE.

The government was furious. It pounded LTTE areas with relentless air and artillery attacks, effectively preventing the group from converging in large numbers.

The military and anti-LTTE Tamil groups were also given the carte blanche to kill LTTE spies. In much of 2006, abductions and random killings of Tamils became commonplace, raising concerns in many capitals.

Using valuable help provided by the Karuna faction, Sri Lankan forces seized one LTTE base after another in the eastern province. Although the LTTE responded by unveiling its nascent air wing that hit some vital targets and injected a new element to the conflict, Colombo persisted.

In November 2007, it killed S.P.Tamilchelvan, a Prabhakaran confidante and chief of the LTTE's political wing. And early this month, it killed "Colonel" Charles, its military intelligence chief. Rajapaksa, the defence secretary, vowed to kill Prabhakaran too.

No middle ground

There is no meeting ground as of today between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan state.

The government now wants to take on the LTTE in the north, where they have held sway for decades. Colombo believes it has had enough of Western homilies on human rights and that the time has finally come to give a knockout blow to the LTTE. It also thinks that talking to the group will not help.

Sinhalese nationalists within the government and outside are also against giving any concessions to the LTTE and the Tamils that would weaken the state's unitary character.

Although the LTTE is cornered, it is far from finished. It may have lost territory in the east and closed down its offices in the north to escape aerial bombings, but it remains a potent military force.

If Sri Lankan forces storm LTTE areas in the north, they are sure to encounter stiff resistance. And if the forces recapture territory, spread over four of the north's five districts, the Tigers will take to guerrilla war.

In any case, the LTTE is not interested in any negotiated settlement. Having waged war for a quarter century for a Tamil state, it will be near impossible for Prabhakaran to settle for anything less unless there is an attractive alternative package.

Colombo, on its part, is least interested in satisfying the LTTE. It is more interested in killing Prabhakaran.

That will not be easy though. There is no credible evidence that Prabhakaran was seriously injured or killed by the Sri Lankan air force in November last year. A man who has seen many dramatic ups and downs since he fled his home in 1973 while in his teens is not going to give up, having come thus far.

For sure, the year ahead would be an eventful one for Sri Lanka.

M.R. Narayan Swamy is Deputy Editor at IANS news agency based in New Delhi. He is the author of two books on the Tamil separatist fighting and writes regularly on Sri Lanka.

Source: Al Jazeera