The Hindu : Deadlock over de-escalation persists in Sri Lanka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 02, 2003

International

International

Deadlock over de-escalation persists in Sri Lanka

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO MAY 1. The deadlock in the Sri Lankan peace process hardened today with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rejecting Colombo's latest Jaffna de-escalation offer as "incompatible" with the 14-month ceasefire agreement.

The LTTE's political wing leader, S.P. Tamilchelvam, in a letter to the Defence Secretary, Austin Fernando, said there was "no meaningful change" in the Government's latest proposal to shift army personnel from two hotels in Jaffna to other locations in the city.

The northern High Security Zones (HSZs), which fall under two broad categories, remain the raw spot in the negotiations process.

Inside Jaffna city, the army is in two main hotels and at least 45 houses. In the peninsula, the HSZs are spread across several divisions, particularly around the Palaly airbase and the Kankesanthurai port.

The present impasse is over the HSZs in the city, with the more sensitive subject of those across the peninsula not yet addressed.

While there is a broad agreement that the HSZs should be re-located, the LTTE has not accepted the army's alternative suggestions.

The LTTE's reasoning behind today's rejection — that the proposed new location was "in very close proximity" to "places of public convergence" — reflects rebel intransigence, military observers said, pointing out that the army could not make a better offer without leaving the city.

The LTTE rejected an earlier plan suggesting re-location of the troops to the area where the Jaffna Municipal Council building stood before it was destroyed during the conflict.

Another suggestion by Tamil MPs to relocate them outside the Jaffna municipal limits was not acceptable to the army, which made its latest proposal to move soldiers to Jaffna's southern entrance.

With the Tigers rejecting the latest proposal, resumption of talks appears as distant as it was on April 21, when the rebels unilaterally suspended negotiations.

The sequence of events particularly after last November's call by the LTTE leader, V. Prabakaran, that northern de-escalation must precede civilian resettlement, is yet another clear indication of the unchanged rebel objective of regaining control over the Jaffna peninsula.

The Norwegian ceasefire monitors see "balance of forces" as the most crucial aspect of the 14-month long truce. Weakening the LTTE's case, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) opposed any unilateral reduction of forces as one that would alter military balance.

By rejecting the latest proposal, seen by international observers as possibly the best the army could offer, the LTTE also makes the point that it wants the security forces out of Jaffna city.

The Sri Lankan Minister, Milinda Moragoda, left for India today to discuss the present situation with Indian officials. Though not a direct participant in the latest peace bid, India is a crucial factor.

After the Indo-Lanka Accord, which resulted in the only constitutional progress since the separatist conflict started, New Delhi maintains a policy of "no direct involvement", but makes important markers, the latest being that pluralism, democracy and human rights issues should be factored into a solution within a united Sri Lanka.

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