LTTE warns against use of 'chemical weapons'

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, AUG. 16. The LTTE today accused Sri Lanka of purchasing a banned chemical weapon and warned of ``dangerous consequences'' if it was inducted in the battlefields of northeastern Sri Lanka.

The LTTE statement appeared to be referring to the Russian- manufactured RPO-A Shmel rocket launcher without naming it. The Sunday Leader newspaper reported this week that the Government had purchased 1,000 units of the weapon.

The Sri Lankan Army spokesman, Brig. Sanath Karunaratne, confirmed the purchase of the Shmel, but denied it was a chemical weapon or that it was banned.

The RPO-A Shmel is a rocket-propelled incendiary/blast projectile launcher whose warhead contains a ``thermobaric'' flammable mixture, that is, it simulates high pressure conditions when detonated in enclosed structures and in the open.

The use of this weapon by the Russian Army in Chechnya came in for strong criticism by the human rights groups.

Described as a ``bunker buster'', the shoulder-fired weapon uses a fuel-air explosive warhead that is most destructive when detonated inside structures, killing living beings through suffocation and burns, but also causes death and destruction over wide areas.

``We are perturbed over reports that the Sri Lanka Government has purchased new infantry weapon system with chemical warheads... The acquisition of this banned weapon by Sri Lanka marks a new and dangerous escalation of the armed conflict in the island'', the LTTE statement declared.

The decision by the Sri Lankan Government to introduce mass destruction technology into the northeast theatre of the conflict was a reflection of its single-minded determination to continue with the military option and escalate the war against the Tamil people, the LTTE said.

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