srilanka1998
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- 26. Juli 2005
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Sri Lanka's balance of fear
[ BBC ] [ 02:54 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
Talks are deadlocked. The past month has been the bloodiest since a ceasefire was signed almost four years ago. The military has been targeted. Tamil civilians are being killed and abducted. The northern peninsula of Jaffna has seen some of the worst attacks. Like all young men preparing to fight their first war, soldiers here are scared and nervous. The Tamil people are, however, the worst sufferers - there are increasing reports of them being harassed, kidnapped and killed. All along the Tamil-dominated coastline, joining the Tigers has become a common cry.Although no-one admits it openly, many here have been trained by the rebels to build up a so-called civil defence force.
As refugees start to flee Sri Lanka, UN refugee agency warns of new violence
[ UN ] [ 13:48 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
The United Nations Refugee agency (UNHCR) said today that its staff in Sri Lanka reports a 'trickle' of refugees fleeing to India in fishing boats, raising concerns about the deterioration of the security situation in Sri Lanka. 'Although small, this is the first arrival of refugees to Rameswaram reported since January 2003, and points to a worrisome deterioration of the security situation in the north and east of Sri Lanka, William Spindler, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said, referring to a town on the Indian coast.
S.Lanka war inevitable if no progress - senior rebel
[ Reuters ] [ 13:49 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels will return to war unless progress is made soon in the island's deadlocked peace process, a senior rebel said just days ahead of a visit by Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim. Solheim has warned the island not to expect too much from a visit aimed at rebuilding an almost-destroyed 2002 cease-fire. But, like the rebels, government soldiers in the minority Tamil-dominated north and east say they believe war could come in days if he cannot at least get the sides to agree a venue for new talks. "If nothing happens in the peace talks, war will start," S.S. Elilan, Trincomalee district political leader for the Tamil Tiger rebels, told Reuters through a translator late on Friday.
Sri Lankan business leaders urge federal solution to end conflict
[ AFP ] [ 13:51 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's business leaders asked the government to turn the country into a de facto federal state in a bid to end decades of ethnic bloodshed. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said Saturday the Indian federal system of government should serve as a model for devolution of power in Sri Lanka where Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for an independent state. "Maximum devolution of power based on the Indian model which is not constrained by definitions of a united or unitary state has been proposed," it said in a statement.
Talks yes, but on what and where?
[ Hindustan Times ] [ 13:52 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
If the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, the 15 political parties of South Sri Lanka, and the LTTE agree on one thing ' it is that peace talks are an urgent need. But chances of talks actually taking place in the near future are dim because there is no agreement on what to talk and where to talk. At the 15-party meeting convened by Rajapaksa in Colombo on Thursday, there was consensus on the need to start talks without delay, but on the question of the venue, there was discord.
[ BBC ] [ 02:54 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
Talks are deadlocked. The past month has been the bloodiest since a ceasefire was signed almost four years ago. The military has been targeted. Tamil civilians are being killed and abducted. The northern peninsula of Jaffna has seen some of the worst attacks. Like all young men preparing to fight their first war, soldiers here are scared and nervous. The Tamil people are, however, the worst sufferers - there are increasing reports of them being harassed, kidnapped and killed. All along the Tamil-dominated coastline, joining the Tigers has become a common cry.Although no-one admits it openly, many here have been trained by the rebels to build up a so-called civil defence force.
As refugees start to flee Sri Lanka, UN refugee agency warns of new violence
[ UN ] [ 13:48 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
The United Nations Refugee agency (UNHCR) said today that its staff in Sri Lanka reports a 'trickle' of refugees fleeing to India in fishing boats, raising concerns about the deterioration of the security situation in Sri Lanka. 'Although small, this is the first arrival of refugees to Rameswaram reported since January 2003, and points to a worrisome deterioration of the security situation in the north and east of Sri Lanka, William Spindler, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said, referring to a town on the Indian coast.
S.Lanka war inevitable if no progress - senior rebel
[ Reuters ] [ 13:49 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels will return to war unless progress is made soon in the island's deadlocked peace process, a senior rebel said just days ahead of a visit by Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim. Solheim has warned the island not to expect too much from a visit aimed at rebuilding an almost-destroyed 2002 cease-fire. But, like the rebels, government soldiers in the minority Tamil-dominated north and east say they believe war could come in days if he cannot at least get the sides to agree a venue for new talks. "If nothing happens in the peace talks, war will start," S.S. Elilan, Trincomalee district political leader for the Tamil Tiger rebels, told Reuters through a translator late on Friday.
Sri Lankan business leaders urge federal solution to end conflict
[ AFP ] [ 13:51 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's business leaders asked the government to turn the country into a de facto federal state in a bid to end decades of ethnic bloodshed. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said Saturday the Indian federal system of government should serve as a model for devolution of power in Sri Lanka where Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for an independent state. "Maximum devolution of power based on the Indian model which is not constrained by definitions of a united or unitary state has been proposed," it said in a statement.
Talks yes, but on what and where?
[ Hindustan Times ] [ 13:52 GMT, Jan. 21, 2006 ]
If the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, the 15 political parties of South Sri Lanka, and the LTTE agree on one thing ' it is that peace talks are an urgent need. But chances of talks actually taking place in the near future are dim because there is no agreement on what to talk and where to talk. At the 15-party meeting convened by Rajapaksa in Colombo on Thursday, there was consensus on the need to start talks without delay, but on the question of the venue, there was discord.