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'The omens are bad for Sri Lanka'

Concerned about the war clouds gathering over Sri Lanka, Donald Camp took a quick trip there to assess the situation.

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NEW DELHI: Concerned about the war clouds gathering over Sri Lanka, Donald Camp, the  US deputy assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia, took a quick trip there to assess the situation and see what could be done to save the island  from another bout of blood letting.

Squarely blaming the LTTE for the recent increase in violent incidents  in the island, Camp said, "The trend lines are not good. There is a concern that given the LTTE provocations, Sri Lanka could considerably go back to a major conflict," Camp said. "The ceasefire is holding in the sense that both sides — the government and LTTE — are saying that they are obeying the ceasefire.

But, the  kind of attacks that have been taking place, are clearly a violation of the spirit of the agreement," he added. Camp however stopped  short of saying Sri Lanka has  reached  the  stage of civil war, but  admitted "The omens  are  bad…."

On Wednesday he was in  Delhi  to  share views and exchange  notes  with Indian  officials. But while the international community can exert  pressure on the Sri Lankan  government there is little  leverage the world has on the LTTE. The one thing which hurts the Tigers  is freezing fund collection abroad.

Expatriate Tamils from US, Canada and Europe have provided the Tigers with massive  donations. While the US and Canada have put a stop to the funding, EU has stubbornly refused to do so. "We banned the LTTE in 1997. And since then, it is a criminal offence in the US to provide any assistance to it," said Camp. He  warned the LTTE of further international isolation if it did not stop violence. "International respectability was an important goal of the LTTE. Recent events suggest that the LTTE is not deterred by the prospect of losing respectability," he explained.

Asked if  the US would ask its friends in EU to ban the LTTE, as requested  by Colombo, Camp said, "The Eu knows our views." But  in an interview to Lanka's state owned Rupavahini Camp channel Camp said, "We have encouraged  the EU to list the LTTE. We think the LTTE is very deserving of that label."

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