Zusammenfassung des Tages
Sri Lanka FM's visit to USA is significant ' SL Mission
Wednesday, January 4, 2006, 12:55 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 4, Colombo: Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington DC said that the timing of Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera's visit to the United States 'is very significant' to Sri Lanka.
Speaking to a news agency about the Minister's visit, who arrived in Washington yesterday, the spokesperson said 'the timing of the visit is very significant because of current developments at home and consultations Colombo had with neighbor India and peace mediator Norway'.
The visiting Sri Lankan Minister is expected to meet US State Department officials including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the current peace process of Sri Lanka.
Minister Samaraweera will stay for four days in Washington and will also meet with US defense, treasury, energy, counter terrorism and trade officials.
UNP and PA must come forward to solve the ethnic crisis ' Malwatta Mahanayake Thero
Wednesday, January 4, 2006, 13:08 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 04, Colombo: The Mahanayake of the Malwatta Chapter, Most Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero said that the two main parties, United National Party and the People's Alliance should come together to solve the long running crisis.
The Mahanayake Threo told this during a meeting with visiting British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster in Kandy. 'Both main parties must come forward to solve the ethnic crisis with a common understanding to defeat Sinhalese and Tamil extremism which prevents the country from seeking a viable solution to the ethnic crisis in North East,' the Thero said.
The Mahanayake Thero also said that the government and President Mahinda Rajapaksa had been protecting the Ceasefire Agreement even though that LTTE had violated it in more than hundred occasions.
Defence Ministry launches full probe into Trinco killings
Wednesday, January 4, 2006, 12:32 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 04, Colombo: The Ministry of Defence today said it will launch a full probe into the death of five youth in Trincomalee on Monday night.
The Ministry in a statement claimed that though the initial report said the youths were killed by the explosion of a hand grenade, 'the post mortem inquiry into their deaths disclosed that there were also wounds caused by gunshots,' leading to the decision to hold a full scale probe.
Earlier the Ministry had stated, 'Initial reports from Trincomalee earlier revealed that an accidental explosion of a hand grenade, held by a group of young men on the beach, killed five of those youths and injured two others on Monday night.'
LTTE Major killed in claymore attack
Wednesday, January 4, 2006, 12:56 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 04, Colombo: A claymore mine explosion in Mannar has killed an LTTE Major and a civilian. The explosion is reported to have occurred at Walaiyankattu Mullikulam, a rebel held area.
Sources said that the two were traveling in a motorcycle when a claymore mine exploded targeting them.
The Tiger Major killed in the blast has been identified as Jeyanathan, the LTTE political chief for Vavuniya South.
This was the first time such an attack took place in an LTTE held area in recent times and the LTTE blamed that it had been masterminded by the Long Range Reconnaissance Mission of the Army.
Top Tamil businessman shot dead in Wellawatte
Wednesday, January 4, 2006, 13:02 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 04, Colombo: An unidentified gunman shot and killed a millionaire businessman last night at Wellawatte.
The victim, Nadaraja Balendran alias 'Atlas Bala' is the owner of the Atlas International Tours and Travels, which serves Colombo-Jaffna travels. He was in front of his communication centre when an unidentified gunman arrived in a white van and opened fire at him.
Soon after the incident he was admitted to the Kalubowila hospital and later transferred to the Colombo General Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. It is believed that the victim had close connections with the LTTE Leadership for a long period.
LTTE kills another Hindu priest
Wednesday, January 4, 2006, 13:02 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 04, Colombo: LTTE has allegedly gunned down a Hindu priest attached to the Sandhiveli Amman Kovil, Kiran in Batticaloa last night at Batticaloa.
Military sources said that the 51 year old priest had been living in a chena doing cultivation with his wife. His wife has made a complaint to the Grama Niladhari that he was shot while he was sleeping inside their hut by unidentified personnel.
The remains of the priest were taken to Chenkalady hospital for post-mortem by one of his relatives.
Colombo-based exile radio and website raided in manipulation of Interpol
Reporters Without Borders accused today the Maldivian government of repeatedly manipulating Interpol after ten Sri Lankan police officers raided the Colombo premises of an exile radio station and website, radio Minivan and Minivannews.com, on 28 December in a search for arms that was prompted by baseless claims by the Maldivian authorities.
Some of the Maldivian journalists have since fled Sri Lanka and the station has stopped broadcasting for fear of further reprisals.
"The government in Malé has made a regrettable habit of sending reports to Interpol accusing independent Maldivian journalists and media based abroad of criminal activity without any proof," the press freedom organisation said. "This is an intimidatory policy designed to deprive thousands of Maldivians of independent news and information. We call on Interpol to investigate this crude manipulation by Malé."
Opposition journalist Ahmad Didi was arrested in Sri Lanka in 2002 as a result of a wrongful accusation to Interpol that he had a false passport. He is still under house arrest in the Maldives. In 2003, the Maldivian government tried to have journalist Ibrahim Luthfee arrested twice following a complaint to Interpol. And this year, the authorities obtained the extradition of opposition activist Ibrahim Asif from India after falsely accusing him of terrorist activities.
A member of the Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Department confirmed to Reporters Without Borders that a raid was carried out on radio Minivan and Minivannews.com in Colombo. No weapons were found and the case is now closed. According to several sources, Maldivian police chief Adam Zahir told Interpol weapons were hidden on the premises and accused the staff of preparing to overthrow President Abdul Gayoom's government by force.
Paul Roberts, a British journalist working for Minivannews.com, said most of the staff had fled the country for fear of further operations by the Maldivian authorities in Sri Lanka. "As a result of this police raid, we have been forced to suspend broadcasts temporarily," Roberts told Reporters Without Borders. "It is what the government hardliners in Malé expected," he added. Presented by Ahmed Naseer, the web-based radio station had been operating for the past 16 months.
The Minivan press group has been harassed and censored by the Gayoom government ever since its creation. The Minivan daily newspaper was launched last July but has not been able to publish normally since August as a result of police pressure on its printer. The Minivannews.com website gets an average of 60,000 visitors a day. Radio Minivan, which broadcasts on the shortwave from Germany as well as being on the website, is also often jammed in Malé.
Most of Minivan's journalists in the Maldives are being prosecuted, while photoreporter Jennifer Latheef is serving a 10-year prison sentence for an alleged "terrorist act."
The Maldives were ranked 148th out of 167 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders world press freedom index in October.
Christians in a church in Sri Lanka had their Christmas Day service disrupted by mob violence.
On Christmas Day, a mob of about 30 people accosted members of the King's Revival Church in Alawwa, Kurunegala District, west central Sri Lanka. They threatened the pastor and warned the congregation not to attend the service. They told the pastor not to hold a Christmas service and warned they would attack again on New Year's Eve. Many worshippers fled in fear, according to a report by the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka.
Those who continued on their way to church were beaten up. One man and three women were injured, and the man was taken to hospital for treatment. One of the women was pregnant.
The incident was reported twice to the local police, on December 25 and December 28, but no action was taken to apprehend the attackers until December 29 when the police finally detained some people for questioning.
In another incident on Christmas morning, a prominent Tamil, Joseph Pararajasingham, MP for the Tamil National Alliance party, was shot dead while attending a late night Christmas Eve service at St. Ann`s Catholic Cathedral in Batticaloa (Eastern Province).
In a separate incident, five days before Christmas, the family of Mr Karunaratne, a deceased Christian, were refused permission to bury their relative in a local public cemetery. Local Buddhists told the family, from Hopton, Reindapola in Lunugala, Uva Province, south eastern Sri Lanka, that they could not bury the dead man in the cemetery because he was a Christian. The local police and authorities eventually intervened, and the burial went ahead, but the initial refusal is an example of continuing anti-Christian discrimination in Sri Lanka.
CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: 'We are most disturbed that this Christian community has been unable to celebrate Christmas in peace. We are also appalled that a family was initially denied permission to bury their relative in a public cemetery, simply because he was a Christian. We are pleased the local authorities appear in both cases to have eventually intervened to uphold the law, but we would urge the Sri Lankan Government at all levels to be proactive in ensuring protection for Christians, equal rights and freedom of religion for all. We urge the authorities to bring the perpetrators of violence to justice, and to do everything possible to eliminate extremism and intolerance.'
'No instructions on Chemmani' CID
Police say that they have not received proper instructions from the government on conducting the Chemmani massacre inquiry.
In the Colombo Magistrates court on Wednesday, Police Central Investigation Division (CID) revealed that the investigations that commenced six years ago cannot be concluded until the Attorney-General (AG) issues the relevant instructions.
Police informed court that they are waiting instructions as the findings of the investigation has been already handed over to the AG.
The magistrate who said that it is "unacceptable" that an inquiry takes so long, directed the CID to expedite the conclusion of the investigation.
CID pointed out that DNA test results on the remains of the deceased are also due from India.
The courts ordered police to be report the progress to court on May 17th together with instructions from the AG and the DNA results.
Six soldiers who are charged with abduction and murder of Tamil civilians who were later allegedly buried in were also ordered to appear in court on that day.
hundreds 'missing'
Excavations in 1999 at a site in Chemmani near Jaffna revealed human remains.
The excavations was witnessed by four international observers, including two from Amnesty International.
Authorities were led to the site by a former soldier, Somaratne Rajapakse, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a Tamil teenager in 1996.
Post 1995
The ex-soldier told a court that hundreds of Tamil civilians were buried in Chemmani by the Sri Lankan army after the takeover of Jaffna.
After the security forces captured the Jaffna peninsula from the Tigers in 1995-96, they detained large number of local Tamils on suspicion of being involved with the rebels.
More than 600 of those who were held are missing and observers say it is unlikely that they are still alive.
The Sri Lankan military has denied allegations that government troops killed hundreds of Tamils and then buried them in mass graves.
Situation Report as at UTC 0830(1430) 04 January 2006
[Web updated at UTC 0947 on 04 January 2006]
NORTH & EAST
LTTE violence spree continues as one more soldier dies
AN ATTEMPT BY TWO TAMIL TIGERS (LTTE) to gun down troops on routine duties in the general area of KARUWANKERNI, BATTICALOA Tuesday (03) morning was foiled after retaliatory fire causing damage to the attackers' motorbike.
Those motorbike-riding LTTE men reached as close as about 200 meters to the troops and suddenly opened fire towards them with a T-56 weapon but the troops engaged them with small arms fire.
In the retaliatory fire, the LTTE motorbike was damaged but the LTTE gunmen fled into crowded PANNIMADU area after troops began to retaliate. Troops showed restraint and abstained from further firing since there were civilians in the area.
However, the motorbike left behind by fleeing terrorists was taken into Police custody.
Another group of unidentified Tamil Tigers meanwhile has lobbed a hand grenade towards the troops on piquet duties on the JAFFNA ' KANKASANTHURAI road, Tuesday (03) afternoon at about 1.30 p.m. However, the grenade has not exploded.
In another attack on the troops in JAFFNA, Tamil Tiger (LTTE) pistol men fired at a group of soldiers attending to work related to civil affairs co-ordinating office in JAFFNA town, Tuesday (03) noon at about 11.45 a.m..
One officer and a soldier sustained injuries in the pistol attack and were admitted to hospital.
A similar LTTE hand grenade attack on an Army point in KALLADY, BATTICALOA on Tuesday (03) afternoon injured two more soldiers on duty.
Injured soldiers were admitted to BATTICALOA hospital.
Another T-56 carrying gunman, suspected to be from LTTE has opened fire on two civilians, S. VICTORIA (44) and WADIVEL (32) while they were in the general area of PUTTUR, BATTICALOA on Tuesday (03) night.
Injured civilians have been admitted to hospital for treatment.
In another development, an unmanned Navy bunker in the general area of TRINCOMALEE town was set on fire by unidentified men early morning on Tuesday (03).
The bunker was not manned at the time of the arson attack.
Following another two hand grenade attacks directed at an Army point in the general area of 3rd MILE POST on the NILAWELI road Tuesday (03) night around 8.20 p.m. troops conducted a search in the area in cooperation with the Police.
In the meantime, the house of a civilian in the general area of PADIKKIYA, TRINCOMALEE was damaged on 3 January 2006 when an unidentified person lobbed a hand grenade at it around 8.20 p.m.
A similar grenade attack on the house of another civilian in the general area of ODDAMAVADI in VALAICHCHENAI was reported late night on Monday (02).
The owner of the house MOHIDEEN BAWA MAHARUF has reported the matter to VALAICHCHENAI Police.
However, the grenade was defused by the Army troops.
Meanwhile, the injured soldier in the LTTE attack in JAFFNA on 21 December 2005 succumbed to injuries at COLOMBO National Hospital on Tuesday (03) after having spent more than twelve days on a life supporting machine.
Tamil Tigers in the general area between KACHCHAI and KODIKAMAM on 21 December 2005 fired upon an Army vehicle killing one soldier on the spot and injuring five others including the victim, Lance Corporal K.M.KARUNARATHNE. (See Situation Report on 22 December 2005)
The victim, Lance Corporal K.M.KARUNARATHNE will be provided a funeral with military honours.
Meanwhile, normalcy in TRINCOMALEE remained disrupted for the second day today (04) after the LTTE called for a total shutdown in the area as a token of protest to the death of five young men on Monday (02) night.
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has been informed of all those criminal acts.
Respective Police stations are conducting investigations.
Hindu Priest butchered in un-cleared areas
A POLICE REPORT FROM ERAVUR confirmed that a Hindu Priest resident in KORAKALLIMADU, KIRAN has been shot dead by an unidentified gunman when he visited PALAADICHCHENAI in un-cleared areas on Tuesday (03).
Rev SELVATHAMBY VISHAGARATNAM (55), Chief Priest at SANDIVELY KANNAGI AMMAN temple has been asleep when he was butchered.
The remains of the Priest were taken to CHENKALADY hospital for post-mortem by one of his relatives.
The ERAVUR Police investigations are on.
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has been informed.
Abducted PLOTE activist found butchered
POLICEMEN ON Tuesday (03) on a tip-off given by some civilians recovered the bullet-riddled dead body of the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) activist who was earlier abducted by suspected LTTE terrorists from the general area of VAVUNIYA.
Suspected three armed LTTE men after abducting the PLOTE activist, KRISHNASAMY THIRUNAVUKARASU (24) alias MANEE from his house in the general area of VEPPANKULAM, VAVUNIYA on 31 December 2005 night at about 8.30 p.m. had reportedly taken him away to an undisclosed area in PUTHUKKULAM, close to the borders in un-cleared areas. (See Situation Report 01 January 2006)
The victim's wife afterwards making a complaint to the Police told that his husband was taken away on a white-coloured van by three suspected Tamil Tigers, posing themselves as Policemen while he was at home with his son and the wife.
The KEBITHIGOLLEWA Police after information was received over recovery of a dead body in shrub jungle areas of RAMBEWA visited the scene and identified the body riddled with bullets.
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was informed of the murder of the latest political victim.
The VAVUNIYA Police investigations are on.
COLOMBO
One more gunned down at night
AN UNIDENTIFIED GUNMAN claimed the life of a businessman in the general area of WELLAWATTE town on Tuesday (03) night at about 11.00 p.m..
The victim, NADARAJA BALENDRAN of Atlas International Tours and Travels, No. 362, Galle road, WELLAWATTE, was initially admitted to COLOMBO south hospital and was later transferred to COLOMBO National Hospital as his condition grew worse.
The motive behind slaying is yet to be ascertained.
However, he succumbed to injuries late at night.
The WELLAWATTE Police investigations are on.
S.Lanka rebels say lose senior cadre to army attack
KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers accused the army of infiltrating their areas and killing a senior rebel on Tuesday in what they said was the most serious attack since a 2002 truce, and warned time was running out to avert war.
The rebels themselves are widely suspected of a string of claymore fragmentation mine attacks on security forces that have killed dozens and brought the ceasefire agreement to the brink of collapse. They deny that, but say the army used a similar method to attack them.
"They came through the jungle and laid a claymore," head of the rebel political wing S.P. Thamilselvan told Reuters through a translator. "We lost one of our senior cadres - a major - and a civilian. It is a very serious matter for us to consider."
Asked if the rebels, who have fought for two decades for self-rule for the island's Tamil minority, might retaliate, he said: "Our leadership must decide on things like that."
There had been a rise in attacks on the Tigers in the last few weeks, he said. The military -- which blames the Tigers both for attacks on its troops and for inciting riots in the northern army-held Jaffna peninsula -- denied any involvement.
"This was in an uncleared area. We don't operate there," said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. "No army, navy or security forces personnel have gone to uncleared areas."
In November, rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran said the government must offer concessions in 2006 or face the movement "intensifying its struggle," seen as a threat to return to war. The two sides are unable even to agree a venue for talks.
BLAME GAME
The rebels said the majority Sinhalese military had carried out a string of "atrocities" in government-held areas, ranging from firing at crowds to the rape and murder of a young woman and the burning of a family in their home.
"If the military decides to thrust a war on the people by escalating military violence ... and thereby create a situation whereby we cannot just be onlookers, that may be a very decisive moment where we have to make decisions to make sure the people are safeguarded," Thamilselvan said, without giving a timeframe.
If necessary, he said the Tigers would fight even if the international community -- which diplomats say is increasingly fed up with them after an election boycott that helped bring in the presidential candidate seen least likely to agree a peace deal -- was against them.
Claymore attacks on troops were being carried out by angry civilian groups, Thamilselvan said, a bodyguard with two pistols in his belt standing behind him. While the Tigers wanted peace, he said, they would not condemn the attacks.
Analysts dismiss the Tigers' denials, saying only they have the capability to mount such deadly ambushes.
If war came, it would be a conventional clash of forces, Thamilselvan said, as rebels had "come of age" and possessed both a conventional army and the structure of a state -- although he would not rule out the use of Black Tiger suicide bombers.
It now had a policy not to use child soldiers, he said, although some wanted to fight if the two sides slide back into a war that killed over 64,000 people before the ceasefire.
"We have no need of such tactics," he said. "But in the case of the 16-year-old kid who was pulled out and shot dead by the military, can we go and tell the child's brother.. you cannot resort to violence because you are below the age of 18?"
Tamil Tigers, Lanka Army trade charges over death of five civilians
Posted online: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 at 0010 hours IST
COLOMBO, JANUARY 4: At least five civilians suspected of working for Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in northeastern Sri Lanka when their grenades exploded before they could hurl them at a troop convoy, said Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, military spokesman said today.
The botched attack on the patrol on Monday in the Port city of Trincomalee was to be carried out by Tamil civilians who had been trained by the rebels, he said adding, 'These people have been trained by them (Tamil Tigers) to attack military targets.'
Five attackers died on the spot and two others were wounded, Samarasinghe said.
Trincomalee, 230 kilometers northeast of Colombo, is under government control, but the rebels operate from nearby villages and jungles.
The government has blamed the rebels for the attacks but the guerrillas deny it
Meanwhile, the Tamil Tiger rebels today accused the government troops of killing five Tamil students in Trincomalee. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) alleged the five boys together with family members were at the beach-front when a grenade exploded near them yesterday. Within minutes, the military arrived at the scene and opened fire.
'As five of the students were being shot and killed, four other students, tried to escape by running,' a statement from the rebels said.
'As they ran, the Sri Lankan military's special forces fired at them and the escaping students were injured on their arms and legs.'
The Defence Ministry here, however, said the students carried the grenade which exploded prematurely and caused the death of five.
'Those young men, suspected to have arrived there in order to carry out an attack on the troops or the police, were on the beach at the time their grenade went off bringing death to five of them,' the ministry said in a statement. it said troops assisted by the police rushed to the scene and recovered one more grenade, an abandoned motorbike and four push bicycles.
Focus on tsunami overlooks Sri Lanka's war refugees
The 90,000 people displaced by civil war have received a slower response, threatening to deepen ethnic grievances.
By Sunil Jagtiani | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
VAVUNIYA, SRI LANKA ' Kandya Parwathy and her family live in abject poverty and discomfort in a sprawling camp in northern Sri Lanka. They are refugees, not from the tsunami 12 months back, but from battles years ago in the island's civil war.
"We want to leave this place as quickly as possible," says Mrs. Parwathy, gesturing at the small room she and nine others have subsisted in for nearly a decade. "There's only one water well and one toilet in our unit for hundreds of people."
The record aid that quickly targeted Sri Lankans displaced by the tsunami has highlighted the predicament of roughly 90,000 longer-standing war refugees like Parwathy, posing, some suggest, an obstacle to Sri Lanka's struggle to achieve peace.
Aid workers say these war refugees have received nothing like the speedy help delivered to tsunami refugees, even though some war refugees have languished in camps ever since the onset of hostilities between the government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 1983.
The war refugees come mainly from the Tamil community, the biggest minority in Sri Lanka, which feels it is discriminated against by the majority Sinhalese community. The civil war flows from this claim of discrimination. Refugee experts worry the aid disparity could exacerbate Tamil ethnic grievances.
The advocacy group Refugees International took up the issue in a recent report based on an inspection of Sri Lankan refugee camps. It labels the disparities in aid as "unjust." The report also describes the aid funds available to war refugees as "meager" compared with the "generous outpouring" for tsunami survivors.
"The international community and the government of Sri Lanka must act immediately to rectify this injustice if Sri Lanka is to achieve stability and peace," it says.
Meanwhile, recent violence is undermining a fragile cease-fire and is adding to the refugee problem. Fearing a resumption of the civil war, scores of Tamil families in northern Sri Lanka have fled their homes in Army-held territory to seek refuge in Tiger-controlled areas.
After the tsunami, donors pledged about $3 billion in 2005 to rebuild Sri Lanka and provide shelter to an estimated 516,000 displaced survivors.
Timmo Gaasbeek, an aid worker with ZOA Refugee Care, says the largest aid agencies received money earmarked specifically for the tsunami, which they cannot, therefore, spend on war refugees. That, combined with the sheer amount of money raised for tsunami relief, has led to "an imbalance," he says.
"In 2005, work in war-affected areas was reduced because aid workers have been shifted to tsunami-affected areas," Mr. Gaasbeek adds. "The whole tsunami response was the first time ever that there was enough money for aid agencies. That's what distinguishes it."
One of the key tsunami aid projects was to construct about 55,000 transitional shelters for homeless victims as quickly as possible. In November, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the target had been hit in less than a year.
But, while purpose-built transitional shelters have been given to some war refugees, too, aid workers say they have taken longer to construct. Many still have yet to receive any such shelters.
Under another initiative, both war refugees and those left homeless by the tsunami can receive cash grants of about $2,500 towards building permanent homes.
But in coastal areas, "there is in reality a lot more money, and people are spending double or triple that," according to Gaasbeek. "In the war-affected areas, the standard is still $2,500. The pressure is on building tsunami houses," he says.
"After the tsunami hit, the war-affected people were forgotten about," says Naresh Newton, a director of The Sewalanka Foundation, an aid organization. He is based in Vavuniya, where Parwathy's family and 10,000 other war refugees reside.
"Funds were also reduced and there is much less resettlement taking place," Mr. Newton says. "Not many of the new aid organizations operating in Sri Lanka since the tsunami are working with the war-affected."
Suspension of an interim aid- sharing agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Tigers, who control areas containing thousands of war refugees, has complicated matters, Newton adds.
Many war refugees are in or near conflict zones, he says, making life difficult since permits are required to transport construction materials.
In its report, Refugees International did find some hope that the aid-response gap between war and tsunami refugees might start to close. The advocacy group says the UNHCR in Colombo is to seek government approval and donor funding to relocate the most vulnerable war refugees by the end of 2006. Moves were also afoot to allow tsunami relief funds to be spent on war refugees, it adds.
But any such measures could be disrupted by fresh fighting. The island's stalled peace process has already delayed the disbursement of $4.5 billion in international aid promised in 2003.
