By: T. Sabaratnam, July 3, 2004
Norwegian special envoy Erik Solheim returned to Colombo this (Wednesday) afternoon with the difficult task of saving the 2-year-old ceasefire agreement which the new government had put under severe strain.
Tiger political chief S. P. Thamilchelvan told Solheim and Colombo-based Norwegian envoy Hans Brattskar who met him at Kilinochchi today that unless President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the Sri Lankan Government stop sheltering Karuna and backing the murders committed by his henchmen ceasefire agreement and peace talks would be endangered.
Thamilchelvan told the media after the meeting that he had told this to the Norwegians “very clearly and firmly”: “If the Sri Lankan President and government are serious about the cease-fire agreement and peace talks they should stop sheltering Karuna and backing the murder and mayhem in which some of his henchmen are indulging Batticaloa.”
LTTE Peace Secretariat’s website quoted Thamilchelvan as telling the Norwegian team: “If this situation is allowed to continue, it will jeopardize the CFA and the entire peace process”.
He added: “There is no change in the LTTE’s stand regarding the basis for resuming peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka. The future of the cease fire agreement and the resumption of peace talks are now solely in the hands of the Sri Lankan government.”
On Monday, after the meeting with Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) head Maj. Gen. Trond Furuhovde Thamilchelvan told the media: “The future of the ceasefire agreement and the peace talks is not in our hands now. It is in the hands of the Sri Lanka army, SLMM and the Norwegian facilitators.”
About today’s meeting intended to draw the agenda for peace talks Solheim said: “there is no major breakthrough I can speak of at the moment but we as facilitators are working hard to bring both the parties to the negotiating table soon”.
Solheim was scheduled to meet Kumaratunga tonight or tomorrow.
“The focus is now on the Karuna affair. We have to get that out of the way before getting back to drawing the agenda,” a Norwegian embassy official said.
More Details Soon
The LTTE is currently engaged in debriefing Nilavini (Charlie Akka, the former Women’s Wing military leader) and her three colleagues- Premini, Women’s Wing political leader, Theenthamil, a senior Women’s Wing commander and Lavaniya, a female cadre-who escaped from the custody of the Sri Lanka military intelligence.
Thamilchelvan told the media on Wednesday: “More details about the manner in which the SLA intelligence is using Karuna to destabilize the cease fire agreement will soon come to light.”
He told Furuhovde on Monday and Solheim on Wednesday that they now have solid evidence that:
· Karuna is with the Sri Lankan Army intelligence.
· Karuna is being used as a pretext to murder and destabilize Batticaloa.
· Army intelligence was behind the recent murders in Batticaloa, especially the murders of journalist Nadesan and Eastern University academic Thambiah.
“We have very reliable evidence now that the Sri Lanka army is using Karuna as a pretext to murder and to create mayhem in Batticaloa. We have indubitable proof that he is working with the Sri Lankan military intelligence. It is also confirmed that the Sri Lankan military intelligence was behind the killing of journalist Nadeasan and the Batticaloa university academic Thambaiah,” Thamilchelvan told the media on Monday.
Thamilchelvan reiterated these charges to Solheim when he met him today.
He told firmly that the LTTE will not recommence meetings with the Sri Lanka army while the Sri Lankan government and its military continue to harbour Karuna and continue to instigate murder and confusion in Batticaloa.
“We made this clear to the head of the monitoring mission today”, Thamilchelvan told the media after meeting Furuhovde on Monday.
Hagrup Haukland, deputy head of the SLMM said, “It’s very serious, as the meetings are very important to maintain contact between the parties and uphold the cease-fire. It will make our work difficult.”
Kumaratunga, reliable sources said, had again shifted her position and had conveyed to Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgessen whom she met him in London last week that the government is prepared to discuss the establishment of the Interim Self Government Authority (ISGA) first. It is said Solheim had passed that information to Thamilchelvan.
But Thamilchelvan had told Solheim the role of the army intelligence service in destabilization of the east had created a new situation and peace talks or the preparation of an agenda for peace talks had to wait till Karuna affair is settled.
LTTE peace secretariat said Thamilchelvan had told Norwegian team that the Tamil people and their elected parliamentary representatives are seriously concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Batticaloa. He told the Norwegians about the Tamil perception that the government is adopting a double track policy; of allowing the military intelligence division in Batticaloa – Amparai to destabilize the Batticaloa district while pretending to be interested in peace talks.
“A serious situation had arisen in the Batticaloa district where many journalists and academics are leaving the district following threats and intimidation by Karuna’s men”, Thamilchelvan told the Norwegian facilitators.
LTTE sources say Karuna is still with the army intelligence service in a safe house north of Colombo. A columnist in a Colombo English daily said Karuna is still a ‘guest prisoner’. He said Karuna is anxious to go to Malaysia where his wife and children live and where his investments are but the army intelligence is refusing to send him abroad.
The columnist gives two reasons for the reluctance to allow Karuna to go abroad. Firstly, the fear that Karuna may change his mind and confess that he was forced to betray the liberation struggle due to the pressure from the intelligence services. Secondly, once Karuna is abroad it would not be possible to carry on the destabilization of the east.
Analysts say that the impression that Karuna and his family had left Sri Lanka on June 13 was purposely created to mislead the LTTE and lull it in the belief that Karuna had left. The impression was conveyed to the four girls, Nilavini, Premini, Theenthamil and Lavaniya, Karuna’s confidantes who rejoined the LTTE last week. Nilavini had said in several interviews that Karuna and his family members were taken out on 13 June and Karuna had told them before that that he was going abroad for a short time.
Karuna’s protectors are spreading the story that the former renegade Batticaloa- Ampara commander had gone to India. They had to choose India as his destination because it is public knowledge that most of the countries had refused to accept Karuna. Indian High Commission sources said India would not touch him.
Karuna’s Party
The fact that Karuna is still in Sri Lanka is supported by the fact that some of the Sinhala journalists who are known to be close to the army and its intelligence unit are regularly publishing stories about his move to form a political party, Daily Mirror today printed the story that Karuna would register his political party with Elections Commissioner next week. It said the new party would be named, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam-Karuna faction. Karuna would be its leader and his former area leaders Maran and Poogan would be its secretary and treasurer.
LTTE announced on Tuesday the capture of seven Karuna’s supporters within the area under their control. They had admitted having links with the army intelligence.
Nilavini, in a special interview to a private television in Colombo, said they had direct evidence including fax messages, to prove the link Karuna had with the army intelligence unit. She said the army intelligence took them to a safe house when they left JAIC Hilton. From there they were taken to another safe house of the army intelligence.
Interesting information had surfaced since last week. First, about their escape. Minutes after Mowlana arrived in his pick up at Poonani junction after dusk on April 12 Karuna and his associates reached the spot in two vans. Karuna got down and got into Moulana’s vehicle. And the three vehicles sped towards Colombo. The road which is usually heavily guarded was deserted. Even the pickets had been withdrawn. They had a free road for themselves.
Second, about the dinner. They reached Dambulla at 8 p.m. Karuna told Mowlana they wanted to have dinner. They stopped at a restaurant. While at dinner Varathan told Karuna that “friends” had contacted him and said all arrangements had been finalized. The restaurant people gave the information about Karuna’s party, which had a total number of 12 persons inclusive of Karuna, to the media. They left the restaurant at 9.30 p.m. and one of Karuna’s assistant paid the bill in thousand rupee notes. He had a briefcase full of thousand rupee bundles.
Third, about the hotel. They reached the hotel around midnight and the hotel was not Colombo Hilton which is in Colombo Fort. They stayed at Colombo Hilton Residence popularly known as JAIC Hilton, at Union Place, Slave Island, Sri Lanka’s only luxury apartment hotel. They were taken straight to the lift and to apartments 2202 and 2205 at the 22nd floor. Females occupied one apartment and the males the other.
Fourth, Moulana’s lies. Moulana lied at every turn.
(a) Moulana said he did not have any connection with Karuna after he and his party went into JAIC Hilton. According to the hotel bill, the apartments were booked in his name. During the 3-day stay the occupants had their meals out except on one occasion. Meals were brought to them by Moulana’s driver. Moulana has also contacted Karuna on the telephone.
(b) Evidence had emerged that a few former UNP ministers including Dr. Rajitha Senaratne had met Karuna. Mowlana was instrumental in arranging the meeting. It is rumoured that they advised Karuna to form a political party,
(c) Mowlana said that he contacted Karuna following a request by the new Batticaloa- Ampara commander Ramesh who asked him to persuade Karuna to go abroad thus avoiding bloodshed. LTTE says that that request was made in March when Karuna revolted and not in April when Karuna escaped.
(d) When LTTE leaders telephoned on the basis of information to find out whether he had helped Karuna escape Mowlana denied having to do anything to do with Karuna affair.
Thamilchelvan told the media on Wednesday that Ranil Wickremesinghe had conveyed a message to the LTTE leadership through the Norwegian facilitators that neither the United National Party nor its leadership were aware of Mowlana’s involvement with Karuna’s escape. He said Wickremesinghe had assured the LTTE leadership that the UNP and its leadership had no hand at all in the matter.
But rumours say Ranil Wickremesinghe had met Karuna. And it is said when Ranil Wickremesinghe conveyed to the LTTE that he had got Mowlana to resign the seat the LTTE leaders derisively quipped: Will he get the former ministers also to resign.
Similarly, LTTE was skeptical with government’s attempts to distance itself from the Karuna matter saying the soldiers had supported Karuna without government’s “knowledge or connivance.”
Despite denials by the government and the UNP Tamils say it was hard to believe that the Ranil Wickremesinghe and Kumaratunga were not aware of the happenings. Tamils fell betrayed by the covert support both major Sinhala parties and their leaders extended to Karuna.
”Simply put, it appears the Sinhala leadership – both ruling and opposition parties – are still more preoccupied with defeating the Tigers than in sincerely negotiating a way out of the island’s ethnic problem. So much so that they are prepared to risk re-igniting the war in pursuing any opportunity to weaken the Tigers,” TNA parliamentarian T. Raviraj said.
”From a Tamil perspective, it now appears that the main Sinhala parties cannot be trusted to deal sincerely with the ethnic question,” he added.
JHU Call
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) called on Saturday the Sri Lankan government and opposition to work together “in the interests of national security” and support Karuna. It also urged the government to give protection to Karuna.
JHU general Secretary Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera in a statement said, “We call upon the President, Prime Minister and Opposition leader to put aside petty political differences and work together in the national interest.”
“All those who respect the nation, democracy and the Buddhist Order should realize that the LTTE is our main enemy… This is the ideal time for the main parties to unite and defeat … the LTTE threats,” the statement said.
JHU call to the Sinhala leadership to exploit the Karuna revolt and defeat the LTTE had strengthened Tamil suspicion. “Sinhala chauvinism is raising its head again,” a veteran Tamil politician K. Kanagendran said.