by Taraki; Daily Mirror, Colombo, January 28, 2004 The LTTE will negotiate only with parity of military status Mr. Anton Balasingham says that the India Sri Lanka Defence Co-operation Agreement (DCA) will “upset the balance of forces to the disadvantage of the LTTE”. The Tigers have accused Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of trying to tilt the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Military
Tamilchelvan’s Statement to Intl Officials & Organizations
by LTTE Peace Secretariat; Kilinochchi, 19 January 2004 “It gives us immense pleasure indeed to receive you all on behalf of our people and the national leader. You all are striving hard to bring about peace in this island and carryout a noble humanitarian service to people in distress with commitment. In the current political crisis,… Read more »
The Case for Direct Economic Assistance to the NorthEast
by Ana Pararajasingam; published January 18, 2004 [The writer is an Australian based Management Consultant, who, between March 2003 and June 2003 this year, was in Sri Lanka working with the LTTE’s Planning & Development Unit and the World Bank, UN agencies and the Asian Development Bank, to assess the needs of the war torn Northeast…. Read more »
Indo-Lanka Defence Cooperation
by Taraki; Daily Mirror, January 13, 2004 Indo-Lanka Defence Cooperation Agreement: A matter of routine The proposed India-Sri Lanka Defence Co-operation Agreement is being considered with some concern by the Tamil press and politicians. The Tigers remain silent. Instead, we heard their advisor Balasingham urging the Indian government to take on a ‘more positive role’ in… Read more »
Professor Nagl’s War
by Peter Maass; The New York Times, January 11, 2004 Maj. John Nagl approaches war pragmatically and philosophically, as a soldier and a scholar. He graduated close to the top of his West Point class in 1988 and was selected as a Rhodes scholar. He studied international relations at Oxford for two years, then returned to… Read more »
Indonesia’s Secret War
by New York Times editorial; January 3, 2004 Do the tactics of Indonesia in Aceh sound quite familiar to Sri Lankan Tamils? In fact, where did the Indonesians learn from? We wonder why the Times is concerned about these tactics in Aceh, but had no concern for the NorthEast. Must have something to do with oil…!… Read more »
Aiding the Devil
by Saravanan Suresh Kumar, Bangalore; published January 3, 2004 By providing military aid to Sri Lanka, India is weakening further the current troubled peace process. We still seem to have not realized that the Sri Lankan problem is not one that can be solved militarily. We are creating new problems and not solving the existing one…. Read more »
Status of Healthcare in the Vanni
by a Sangam member; originally published December 14, 2003 Many of my friends and colleagues have traveled to NorthEast of the island of Sri Lanka since the ceasefire agreement was signed between the LTTE and the government of Sri Lanka. There have been extensive reports of the destruction of 20 years of war, but none to… Read more »
USIP Classroom Simulation re Sri Lanka
published December 6, 2003 Note especially the links at bottom of page! *********************************************************************** US Institute of Peace Sri Lanka: Setting the Agenda for Peace See these simple teacher tips on running a simulation in your classroom. Scenario The setting for this simulation is a September 2001 meeting in Geneva at which the Government of Sri… Read more »
Does the ISGA Violate the Oslo Agreement?
by Wakeley Paul, Esq.; published December 5, 2003 DO THE LTTE PROPOSALS VIOLATE THE OSLO ACCORDS?OR ARE THEY IN PERFECT CONFORMITY WITH ITS TERMS? According to Dayan Jayatilleka, “Richard Armitage and Chris Patten have both gone on record noting critically that the ISGA far exceeds the Oslo Accords and does not resemble any kind of Federalism”… Read more »
Neutral Position
Tamil Guardian editorial; London, published December 4, 2003 Neutral Position – The LTTE remains neutral on Sinhala rivalry When Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, prepared to deliver his annual Heroes’ Day address last week, he must have been struck by the stark contrast with prevailing sentiments last year. Of… Read more »
Non-violent Peace Force in Sri Lanka
originally published November 29, 2003 http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/english/srilanka/slpoutcome.asp In December 2002, 130 delegates from 47 nations chose Sri Lanka as the site of the first Nonviolent Peaceforce pilot project. The Nonviolent Peaceforce is recruiting, training, and sending 50 international civilians to help establish a foundation for sustainable peace in Sri Lanka between 2003 and 2005 The first… Read more »
Next Phase of Negotiations
by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Daily Mirror, Colombo, November 28, 2003 Next phase of negotiations: Don’t wait Is the Southern polity ready to do serious political business with the LTTE? Unless the Sinhalese political class makes up its mind in the next few weeks to do pretty serious political business with the LTTE in the coming months, the… Read more »
“We Are Not Making Preparations for War”
by V. Pirapaharan; LTTE Peace Secretariat, November 27, 2003 LTTE LEADER REJECTS PRESIDENT’S ALLEGATION: “WE ARE NOT MAKING PREPARATIONS FOR WAR” Mr Vellupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in his annual statement commemorating the Heroes’ Day has vehemently rejected accusations made by President Chandrika Kumaratunga that his organisation was strengthening… Read more »
A Truce is Not Enough
by Ana Pararajasingham; The Sunday Leader, Colombo, November 23, 2003 originally published November 24, 2003 A truce is not enough Despite the occasional violations, the truce between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebels has held for almost two years. The long awaited proposal by the Tamil Tigers for an interim governing authority had revived… Read more »
Power Unchecked
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, November 19, 2003 Power Unchecked – Peace is jeopardised in the name of power The constitutional deadlock in Sri Lanka continued this week as President Chandrika Kumaratunga, now comfortably entrenched in her usurped positions at the head of the ministries of defence, interior and media, stood firm against Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s toothless… Read more »
LTTE’s Counterproposals
LTTE’s counterproposals puts ball back in government’s court Northeastern Herald Editorial, Nov. 7-16, 2003 The counterproposals put forward by the LTTE to those submitted by the government for the establishment of an interim administration in the northeast appears a much more flexible and moderate document than what many people predicted it would be. Some foretold the… Read more »
AFTA Media Release re ISGA
originally published November 7, 2003 Australian Federation of Tamil Associations PO Box 44, Civic Square, ACT 2608 06 November 2003 AFTA Welcomes Tamil Self Governance Proposal and calls for vigilance by the International Community The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA) welcomes the proposal released on behalf of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka by… Read more »
Cracks in a Strategic Jewel
by Christian Science Monitor editorial, November 6, 2003 Some conflicts in far-off lands such as Sri Lanka can’t be ignored when the country contains a strategic jewel for nations like the United States with globe-girdling navies in search of safe ports of call. Sri Lanka’s prized jewels are, first, its location in the middle of the… Read more »
Threats & Talks, Latent Bias
Tamil Guardian editorials, London, October 22, 2003 originally published October 28, 2003 Can the LTTE be coerced into abandoning Tamil goals? Whilst the Liberation Tigers are expected to forward their proposals for an interim administration for the Northeast to the Sri Lankan government by the end of the month, Colombo has also dampened expectations of… Read more »