The Hindu : Sri Lanka to step up security in the east

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 22, 2003

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International

Sri Lanka to step up security in the east

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO AUG. 21. The Sri Lankan Government today said that it would step up security in the troubled eastern districts with additional recruitment to police forces and deployment of armed forces.

Since last week's killing of four Muslims in two separate incidents by "unidentified gunmen", the east has remained tense with hartals in Muslim-majority areas. In addition to the killings, the reported abduction by two Muslim youths has complicated the situation.

"There is a problem. There is a hiatus there," Colombo's chief negotiator and Constitutional Affairs Minister, G.L. Peiris, told a press conference here, adding there was a need for additional forces.

The Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC), a constituent of the ruling United National Front, has blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the killings and wanted stepped up security.

Stating that he was "not in a position to judge who was responsible" for the killings, Prof. Peiris said that "whoever is responsible, law and order has to be maintained". A joint meeting among the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) the LTTE and the SLMC is to be held, he said, adding the Government "will take action".

In response to an SLMC demand, the Government on Tuesday decided to recruit 550 policemen "with immediate effect". This has raised concerns among the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance parties of a possible imbalance in the ethnic ratio. The recruitment is to take place in the eastern region, which has a strong presence of the island's three main ethnicities — Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims.

The eastern troubles take place at a time when a top-level LTTE team is holding internal talks in Paris to prepare a response to the Government's offer of a Provisional Administrative Structure.

The offer, made on July 17, provides for an LTTE-majority interim administration for the northeast, with powers over development-related subjects, but excludes police, security, land and revenue.

The Tigers, describing the offer as "failing to meet the expectations of the Tamils", said a counter-proposal would be presented.

The LTTE, which unilaterally pulled out of talks on April 21, has linked resumption of negotiations to Colombo's acceptance of its counter-proposals.

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