Police and security forces went on alert across Sri Lanka after the government announced it was pulling out of a tattered ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels.
War in Sri Lanka is likely to escalate. Government views the 2002 truce as a ‘flawed document’
COLOMBO: Police and security forces went on alert across Sri Lanka on Thursday after the government announced it was pulling out of a tattered ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said. “We have raised an alert, especially in Colombo — we have deployed more men,” a senior police officer said.
The government announced late on Wednesday that it was formally pulling out of the Norwegian-brokered 2002 truce, after months of escalating violence and a belief it now has the upper hand in the decades-old conflict. Government spokesman and media minister Anura Yapa said the government viewed the 2002 truce agreement as a “flawed document.” “The government does not want to be a party to a non-functioning ceasefire agreement,” Yapa told reporters. “But, it does not imply that the government has shut the door for negotiations.”
He said that if the Tamil rebels were to lay down their arms — an unlikely event — the government could resume talks facilitated by Norway which broke down in October 2006. Sri Lankan military chiefs have said 2008 will be a turning point in the war and have vowed to eject the rebels from their mini-state in the tropical island’s northern jungles.
Under the ceasefire that went into effect from February 23, 2002, both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers had the option to pull out after giving two weeks’ written notice to the Norwegian foreign minister. Colombo’s withdrawal will also lead to the collapse of the Norwegian-led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which recorded violations and provided the only independent account of violence in the troubled regions.
Norway’s International Development Minister Erik Solheim, an architect of the 2002 truce, expressed his concern over the possibility of a slide back into all-out war. “I regret that the government is taking this serious step,” Solheim said. “This comes on top of the increasingly frequent and brutal acts of violence perpetrated by both parties, and I am deeply concerned that the violence will now escalate even further.” There was no immediate reaction from the Tigers, although LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had already said in November that the peace process was a waste of time.
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