The Hindu : Imperilling the ceasefire

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 16, 2003

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Imperilling the ceasefire

THE FEARS EXPRESSED over the perilous folly of trusting the Tamil Tigers are coming true in Sri Lanka. The peace negotiations between the Government headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, stalled in the seventh round, are in very real danger of being torpedoed by the covert and overt activities of the rebel group. The talks, which began in September last year, ran into serious trouble when the Tigers were caught violating the terms of the permanent ceasefire in force. The incident on February 7 when the militants staged a suicide bombing of a cargo of arms upon exposure by the international monitoring committee in the high seas cast a long shadow on the negotiations and forced the early suspension of the fifth round in Berlin. The Tigers entered a mode of belligerence and denial following another incident on March 10 when a second boat was sunk by the Sri Lankan Navy, though they did attend the next round of talks in Tokyo held within a fortnight. On April 21, the Tigers stalled the seventh round scheduled for the end of April over the issue of high security zones and free movement within them. Last week, raising untenable objections and unacceptable demands true to its style of functioning, the LTTE boycotted a major international donors' conference despite the vigorous and persistent efforts of the host country, Japan. On Saturday, the negotiation process hit another mine.

Saturday's incident in which an LTTE boat was sunk by the Sri Lankan Navy exposes the rebels and unmasks their real intentions, imperilling the more than a year old ceasefire in the island republic. It is symptomatic of the principal uncertainty that has beset the negotiations from the very beginning: are the Tigers serious about their pursuit of a settlement within the framework of the country's Constitution or have they merely agreed to the talks as a tactic for regrouping and strengthening their position in the pursuit of their goal? Their stalling tactics, clandestine activities and fascist intolerance as evidenced by the assassination of an opponent come at a critical time when the next steps by the Government and the LTTE would determine whether or not the country breaks out of its violent past and grasps the hand proffered by the international community at the Tokyo conference. The donor countries went beyond expectations and promised massive assistance for rehabilitation and reconstruction, particularly in the devastated Tamil areas in the north and the east of Sri Lanka. To the chagrin of the LTTE, the donors also made it known that there were to be no free lunches. The conference set a road map and bound both sides to a schedule indicating that "disbursement of assistance will keep pace with satisfactory progress in the peace process". It put the onus on both sides, "with adequate safeguards to secure the interests of all" communities.

The promise of aid on an unprecedented scale and the warm sentiments expressed at the Tokyo conference underline the international community's hope for an end to Sri Lanka's two-decade-old civil war. Success in this "will demonstrate that the world community is capable of acting peacefully to pre-empt human suffering", the American Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, told the conference. As the Wickremesinghe Government comes to terms with the ground realities, the LTTE has again demonstrated its unreliability as a partner by demanding a virtual veto over the funds disbursement through a captive administrative mechanism. The Government, which has given much ground to the Tigers in its effort to prolong the ceasefire and score some political points over the Executive President, may have few options in the face of the treachery and brinkmanship of the LTTE. The prospects appear gloomy.

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