The Hindu : Pact at hand in Sri Lanka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 22, 2002

Front Page

Front Page

Pact at hand in Sri Lanka
By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, FEB. 21. A battle between the Sri Lankan Navy and the LTTE erupted off the island's northeastern coast today as the Government said the two sides were close to signing a mutual ceasefire agreement by Saturday.

Two navy personnel, including an officer, were killed and at least four wounded in the sea battle, which began at 9.30 a.m. after a naval patrol spotted a Sea Tiger flotilla, 25 km northeast of Mullaithivu.

It was the first serious flare-up between the Government forces and the LTTE who are at present observing a truce, unilaterally declared by each side.

But the Cabinet spokesman, G.L. Peiris, said the incident would not affect the signing of a proposed mutual ceasefire agreement, which he said was expected to happen within ``the next 48 hours''.

``As of now, it is on track. There is reasonable expectation that the document will be signed within the next two days,'' he said.

The document is expected to be signed by the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabakaran.

Mr. Peiris said ``almost all'' problems between the two sides with respect to the agreement had been resolved.

The President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, was consulted at every stage of the drafting of the agreement and was an integral part of the process, he said.

Ms. Kumaratunga had expressed reservations that a draft agreement leaked to the media had no provisions safeguarding civilians living in the northeast against LTTE atrocities such as child conscription, extortion, abduction and revenge killings.

The senior Minister, who is directly involved in the Norwegian-facilitated peace initiative, said one incident alone - like today's sea battle - could not destroy the process.

``Nowhere in the world do you get a problem-free ceasefire. You would always expect situations of the kind that happened today. Any ceasefire agreement will have to contain provisions to deal with these situations in a manner to prevent them from escalating,'' he said.

The battle between the Navy and the Sea Tigers lasted over an hour. Navy sources said there were 15 boats in the Sea Tiger flotilla. Eight of these were log boats used by the LTTE to transport supplies, and they were approaching the Sri Lankan northeast coast escorted by speed boats when they were spotted by naval and air force patrols.

Defence Ministry sources said the patrol opened fire on the flotilla after going through the proper procedure laid down for engagement at sea. Besides losing two men, the Navy also suffered damage to one its fast attack craft in the battle.

The sources said the operation was called off after the LTTE boats managed to get close to the coastline, as it would have necessitated following them and exposing their own boats to the LTTE fire from the land.

One of the sticking points in drafting the ceasefire agreement was the Government's insistence that its Navy would have the right to intercept LTTE boats at sea. This is the fifth time the LTTE has been spotted making a logistic run by sea since calling a truce, reciprocated by the Government, last December 24.

Only once last month did the Navy fire on the boats, but pulled out before the fighting escalated.

Earlier this week, the Defence Minister, Tilak Marapana, downplayed the series of incidents and said there was no evidence that the boats belonged to the LTTE, and argued that they could have even been fishing boats.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

Heavy to moderate turnout in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur

Exit polls predict hung Assembly in U.P.

India hopes UAE will deport Iqbal Mirchi

Talks difficult: Musharraf

I did not say it: PM

Pact at hand in Sri Lanka

INSAT 3C operational

Copter crashes

Jagpravesh Chandra dead

No curbs on travel: WHO

Plague will not spread, says Thakur