LTTE withdraws ceasefire

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, APRIL 23. The LTTE announced today it would not extend a unilateral ceasefire that will end midnight Tuesday as it had become a ``futile exercise'' with Sri Lanka's refusal to reciprocate it. But it promised continued support to Norway's bid to facilitate peace talks with the Government.

An LTTE release late Monday said the Government had ``failed to recognise the constructive meaning and purpose'' of the ceasefire and instead intensified air and sea attacks on north-eastern Sri Lanka, necessitating the ``painful decision'' to withdraw the truce. Reports from the peninsula said there was heavy shelling in Thenmarachchi on Saturday through Sunday. Last week, the LTTE is reported to have suffered heavy losses in two confrontations with the Navy.

``It has become impossible to contain the military assaults of the enemy with our self-restrained and defensive tactics without resorting to counter-offensive operations. Under such conditions, we can no longer sustain our self-imposed truce which the enemy has been exploiting to its own advantage,'' the release stated.

It said the LTTE had lost ``strategically important territory'' in Jaffna peninsula since Christmas eve when it first declared the ceasefire and then extended it on a monthly basis till April 24. It had also lost 160 cadres, with 400 wounded. The LTTE charged the Government of carrying out aerial attacks on civilian hamlets in the north-east and bolstering its firepower. ``While our unilateral ceasefire provided the basis for hope and brought four months of peace and stability to the Sinhala south, the same period has brought war, violence, death and destruction among the Tamils in the north-east.''

It added that the LTTE remained ``seriously committed'' to peacefully resolving the conflict and would ``continue to support and co-operate in every possible way'' with Oslo to this end.

A bitter line was reserved for the rest of the international community, which, ``instead of commending (the LTTE's) peace offensive'' and persuading Sri Lanka to reciprocate, had ``imposed proscription and other restrictions'' against it.

Army blames LTTE

The military said it was prepared for any eventuality and pulled out its own list of complaints. ``They have already violated their own ceasefire 220 times, so it will not make any difference to us. We were maintaining a high level of alertness, because we did not believe them,'' said the military spokesman, Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne. He said five military personnel had been killed in action during this period, 89 were wounded and five were missing, in addition to three civilians killed, five wounded and one missing. The Government has also accused the LTTE of rearming itself during the ceasefire.

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Section  : International
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