srilanka1998
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Bomb attack on Sri Lanka army HQ
[ BBC ] [ 09:22 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
At least five people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on the headquarters of the Sri Lankan army in the capital Colombo, officials say. The head of the army, Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka, is said to be seriously hurt. "Five of bodyguards who escorted the car on motorcycles were killed on the spot," police chief Chandra Fernando told. "The fate of the commander is not known yet." Other reports say Lt Gen Fonseka suffered severe abdominal injuries and was taken to hospital for surgery. Lt Gen Fonseka was appointed head of the army shortly after the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse last November.
Sri Lanka army chief 'critically wounded' in bombing
[ AFP ] [ 09:26 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
A suspected suicide bombing inside Sri Lanka's main military headquarters "critically wounded" army chief Sarath Fonseka and killed five of his bodyguards, officials told AFP. Lieutenant General Fonseka's convoy was targeted as it drove past the army hospital well within the high security zone, police said adding that they suspected that a woman suicide bomber may have carried out the attack. "Five of his bodyguards who escorted the car on motocycles were killed on the spot," a police official said, adding that more than a dozen were wounded. "There are casualties but the fate of the commander is not known yet," the police chief Chandra Fernando told AFP on Tuesday. "He was critically wounded." Fonseka is a high profile military commander who has taken a hard line against the Tamil Tigers, advocating a tougher stance against the rebels in the ongoing peace process.
Sri Lanka Tigers say govt to blame for violence
[ Reuters ] [ 09:33 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers called on mediator Norway on Tuesday to pressure the government to accept its conditions for returning to peace talks and said Colombo was fomenting violence by backing paramilitary groups. In an open letter to Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer, Tiger political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan said the government was to blame for a wave of violence many fear could lead to the breakdown of a 2002 ceasefire and a return to civil war. Norway should call on the government to "calm the current tense situation and bring to an immediate end the violence let loose by the Sri Lankan armed forces and its paramilitaries," Thamilselvan said in the letter.
Pervasive duplicity incompatible with peace process
[ LTTE Peace Secretariat ] [ 09:35 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
LTTE Political Head, S P Tamilselvan has written to Norwegian Special Envoy, Jon Hanssen Bauer, highlighting the duplicity of GoSL and the importance of creating goodwill for the peace process to progress. "I write this letter to express our thanks for your efforts to give new life to the peace efforts and also to explain our position to you in this regard. I must point out to you that GoSL is, on the one hand proclaiming that it is ready for the peace talks and on the other hand letting loose all types of activities to destroy the peace process. In this letter we will describe three important and related issues which clearly demonstrate the duplicity of GoSL in its handling of the peace efforts."
Sri Lanka "fails to protect Tamils" - rights group
[ Reuters ] [ 11:14 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
A U.S. human rights group accused Sri Lanka's government on Tuesday of ignoring attacks on ethnic Tamils, as the army reported more violence overnight and a peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels remained deadlocked. More than 100 people have been killed since the first week of April in the bloodiest days since a 2002 ceasefire, with suspected Tiger attacks being followed by ethnic attacks on Tamils. Attacks on majority Sinhalese civilians in the multi-ethnic northeast are also rising. Both the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) say they want to join peace talks in Switzerland which have been postponed indefinitely after wrangling over the transport of eastern rebel leaders to a pre-Geneva meeting.
US Court Ruling for Ahilan Nadarajah
[ Illangai Thamizh Sangam ] [ 11:16 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
In March of this year, the US Federal Ninth Circuit Court ruled to release a Sri Lankan Tamil who had been in immigration detention for four years on the basis that he was associated in some way with the LTTE. The American Civil Liberties Union represented Nadarajah. The panel of Judges accepted and acknowledged that the plaintiff, Ahilan Nadarajah, had been tortured by the Sri Lankan government. This is entered into the court records. The evidence against the plaintiff was by a “secret asset” living in Canada, whose testimony was discredited by the earlier courts, and whose judgments were later accepted by the Ninth Circuit panel. One point is that the fact of torture by the Sri Lankan government is an accepted fact in the US court system. The second is that the court accepts that there are false accusations being made against Tamils in Canada and the US.
Suicide bomber kills 10 in Sri Lanka army blast
[ AFP ] [ 11:38 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
A female suicide bomber blew herself up killing at least 10 bodyguards and critically wounding Sri Lanka's army chief Sarath Fonseka here, police and doctors said. The guards who escorted the army chief were killed by a woman who had explosives strapped to her body, police said on Tuesday, adding that the attack was inside the sprawling high-security military compound in Colombo. Dozens of ambulances were rushed to the complex to evacuate the wounded. Doctors said at least 10 people were killed and 11 more wounded in the powerful blast.
Sri Lanka army chief 'critical' after suspected Tiger suicide attack
Tuesday April 25, 10:49 PM
COLOMBO (AFP) - A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber pretending to be pregnant blew herself up in front of the Sri Lankan army chief's car leaving him critically wounded and five bodyguards dead, police said.
The attack on Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka's convoy inside the high security zone of Colombo's main military base is another blow to the island's troubled peace process and puts a 2002 ceasefire under intense pressure.
"Five of his bodyguards who escorted the car on motorcycles were killed on the spot," a police official said, adding that more than a dozen people were also wounded.
"There are casualties but the fate of the commander is not known yet," police chief Chandra Fernando told AFP on Tuesday. "He was critically wounded."
Relatives of soldiers being treated at the army hospital are allowed into the high security compound for lunch time visits and the suicide bomber may have slipped in with them, police said.
"The initial suspicion is that she posed as a pregnant woman and entered the compound," a police official said. "She jumped in front of the commander's convoy as it moved past the hospital."
The victims were rushed to the main civilian national Hospital of Colombo.
Hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said the commander had serious chest and abdomen injuries.
"His condition is serious. We have moved him in for an emergency surgery," Soysa told AFP. "Twelve others have been admitted to (the civilian) hospital."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but police said the attack bore all the hallmarks of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are known to be experts at suicide bombings.
Tuesday's bombing is the first suicide attack in Colombo since the July 2004 bombing by a woman who detonated explosives strapped to her body while she was being searched at a police station here.
Police believed the 2004 attack was aimed at a Tamil minister of the government who is staunchly opposed to the Tigers.
Fonseka is a high profile military commander who has taken a hard line against the Tamil Tigers, advocating a tougher stance against the rebels in the ongoing peace process.
The Tamil Tigers have claimed a long list of high profile victims by deploying suicide bombers.
The Tigers have been accused of assassinating president Ranasinghe Premadasa in May 1993, former Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and the former Sri Lankan navy chief Clancy Fernando in November 1992.
The guerrillas entered a Norwegian-brokered truce with the government in February 2002.
However, violence has escalated in Sri Lanka despite the ceasefire. The truce has come under intense pressure in the past two weeks after a spate of bomb attacks.
Attempts by peace broker Norway to get the two sides to resume ceasefire talks remain inconclusive, with special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer pursuing meetings in Sri Lanka.
The Tigers have indefinitely put off participation in the talks citing ongoing violence and logistical hurdles.
At least 70 people have been killed in bombings in the past two weeks alone while Tamil rebels say 70 civilians were slain by pro-government militia or by security forces, a charge denied by the military.
Sri Lanka truce monitors say military strike Tigers
[ Reuters ] [ 14:33 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
Nordic truce monitors said on Tuesday that Sri Lanka's navy and airforce were launching air and artillery strikes on Tamil Tiger positions near the northeastern port of Trincomalee. Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Ulf Henricsson, told Reuters that air strikes had been launched and that the navy was also targeting positions in rebel territory following a suicide bomb attack on the army headquarters in Colombo. "My assessment - which is also my hope - is that this is a limited retaliatory strike for today's attack," the retired Swedish major-general said. The air force said they could not comment for security reasons, but did not deny the report.
BRAKING NEWS: Sri Lanka slide back to war as war planes bombed Tamil villages
[ TCNR ] [ 15:01 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka truce in tartars as government war planes bombed the rebel held Tamil villages in the eastern district of Trincomalee which seen an increase violence for the last three weeks. According to early reports, Israeli built Kfir supersonic fighter jets started bombing the rebel held villages of Sampoor, Ilakkanthai and Kattaiparichchan. The bombing started at 5.30 pm local time and still continuing even after 7 pm local time, according to local sources. There were 6 sorties so far, they further said. Loud explosions and deafening sound of Kfir continue to dominate the eastern costal town, a local resident said over the phone. No casualty figures made available at the moment. There are also reports of multi barrel artillery fire from the army positions to rebel held area as well. Another report said that the government naval vessels also bombed the costal areas of the rebel held areas and surrounded the areas as well.
S.Lanka hits Tigers after suicide blast kills 9
Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:56 PM BST
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military attacked Tamil Tiger rebel targets on Tuesday in retaliation after a suicide attack on the army's headquarters that killed nine, as the island's truce seemed to be unravelling.
Earlier in the day, a suspected Black Tiger suicide bomber pretending to be pregnant blew herself up in an attack on the army's commander, bringing violence that had been confined to the north and east to the capital.
The government said strikes on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) did not mean an immediate return to a two-decade civil war but it was the first official military action on the rebels since a 2002 truce.
"The LTTE did something this afternoon that clearly breached the cease-fire," head of the government peace secretariat, Palitha Kohona, told Reuters. "The government had to act. We still hope that the LTTE will decide to come to talks."
President Mahinda Rajapakse was due to address the nation at 1600 GMT.
About 110 people have died in the bloodiest two weeks since the Norwegian-brokered cease-fire halted the civil war that killed more than 64,000, with the rebels still keen to win their goal of a Tamil homeland in the island's north and east.
Peace talks seen as a way to halt the violence were supposed to take place in Geneva this week but talks arrangements became deadlocked on over how to transport a group of eastern rebel commanders to attend a pre-talks meeting.
But the rebels' real complaint is what they say is government complicity with a breakaway rebel group in the east attacking the mainstream Tigers.
FIGHTER JETS
The Tiger political leader in the northeastern district of Trincomalee, S.S. Elilan, told Reuters that his territory had been hit by bombs from Israeli-built Kfir fighter jets and shelling. He said he had no estimate on casualties.
With mediator Norway still trying to secure talks in Switzerland amid spiralling ethnic violence and tension, the unarmed Nordic mission monitoring the battered truce had called for restraint. They confirmed the military assault.
"Air strikes are confirmed, bombing and gunfire from Trincomalee naval base is confirmed," Swedish Major-General Ulf Henricsson, head of the Nordic mission monitoring the 2002 cease-fire, told Reuters.
"My assessment -- which is also my hope -- is that this is a limited retaliatory strike for today's attack."
Both the Tiger attack and the government retaliation were acts of war, said Jehan Perera, head of think-tank the National Peace Council.
"Our hope is that it will stop but escalatory dynamics are very difficult to stop once they are put in motion," he said.
The Tigers would not comment on whether they were behind the suicide bombing but they have a long history of launching such attacks.
The military said Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, a decorated combat veteran who said the truce was too soft on the rebels, had been undergoing surgery but was out of danger after the blast.
The army said eight people -- in addition to the bomber -- both civilian and military, had been killed and 27 wounded inside army headquarters, one of the most secure places in the country. Army photos showed bodies covered with plastic sheeting, and body parts strewn around.
The Colombo All-Share Index fell more than 3 percent after the blast, before recovering a little to close down 2.33 percent.
"Tomorrow there will be more panic selling and people will get emotional," said stockbroker Harsha Fernando before the government retaliation. "Twenty years of war have brought us nothing. We have to talk."
[ BBC ] [ 09:22 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
At least five people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on the headquarters of the Sri Lankan army in the capital Colombo, officials say. The head of the army, Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka, is said to be seriously hurt. "Five of bodyguards who escorted the car on motorcycles were killed on the spot," police chief Chandra Fernando told. "The fate of the commander is not known yet." Other reports say Lt Gen Fonseka suffered severe abdominal injuries and was taken to hospital for surgery. Lt Gen Fonseka was appointed head of the army shortly after the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse last November.
Sri Lanka army chief 'critically wounded' in bombing
[ AFP ] [ 09:26 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
A suspected suicide bombing inside Sri Lanka's main military headquarters "critically wounded" army chief Sarath Fonseka and killed five of his bodyguards, officials told AFP. Lieutenant General Fonseka's convoy was targeted as it drove past the army hospital well within the high security zone, police said adding that they suspected that a woman suicide bomber may have carried out the attack. "Five of his bodyguards who escorted the car on motocycles were killed on the spot," a police official said, adding that more than a dozen were wounded. "There are casualties but the fate of the commander is not known yet," the police chief Chandra Fernando told AFP on Tuesday. "He was critically wounded." Fonseka is a high profile military commander who has taken a hard line against the Tamil Tigers, advocating a tougher stance against the rebels in the ongoing peace process.
Sri Lanka Tigers say govt to blame for violence
[ Reuters ] [ 09:33 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers called on mediator Norway on Tuesday to pressure the government to accept its conditions for returning to peace talks and said Colombo was fomenting violence by backing paramilitary groups. In an open letter to Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer, Tiger political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan said the government was to blame for a wave of violence many fear could lead to the breakdown of a 2002 ceasefire and a return to civil war. Norway should call on the government to "calm the current tense situation and bring to an immediate end the violence let loose by the Sri Lankan armed forces and its paramilitaries," Thamilselvan said in the letter.
Pervasive duplicity incompatible with peace process
[ LTTE Peace Secretariat ] [ 09:35 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
LTTE Political Head, S P Tamilselvan has written to Norwegian Special Envoy, Jon Hanssen Bauer, highlighting the duplicity of GoSL and the importance of creating goodwill for the peace process to progress. "I write this letter to express our thanks for your efforts to give new life to the peace efforts and also to explain our position to you in this regard. I must point out to you that GoSL is, on the one hand proclaiming that it is ready for the peace talks and on the other hand letting loose all types of activities to destroy the peace process. In this letter we will describe three important and related issues which clearly demonstrate the duplicity of GoSL in its handling of the peace efforts."
Sri Lanka "fails to protect Tamils" - rights group
[ Reuters ] [ 11:14 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
A U.S. human rights group accused Sri Lanka's government on Tuesday of ignoring attacks on ethnic Tamils, as the army reported more violence overnight and a peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels remained deadlocked. More than 100 people have been killed since the first week of April in the bloodiest days since a 2002 ceasefire, with suspected Tiger attacks being followed by ethnic attacks on Tamils. Attacks on majority Sinhalese civilians in the multi-ethnic northeast are also rising. Both the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) say they want to join peace talks in Switzerland which have been postponed indefinitely after wrangling over the transport of eastern rebel leaders to a pre-Geneva meeting.
US Court Ruling for Ahilan Nadarajah
[ Illangai Thamizh Sangam ] [ 11:16 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
In March of this year, the US Federal Ninth Circuit Court ruled to release a Sri Lankan Tamil who had been in immigration detention for four years on the basis that he was associated in some way with the LTTE. The American Civil Liberties Union represented Nadarajah. The panel of Judges accepted and acknowledged that the plaintiff, Ahilan Nadarajah, had been tortured by the Sri Lankan government. This is entered into the court records. The evidence against the plaintiff was by a “secret asset” living in Canada, whose testimony was discredited by the earlier courts, and whose judgments were later accepted by the Ninth Circuit panel. One point is that the fact of torture by the Sri Lankan government is an accepted fact in the US court system. The second is that the court accepts that there are false accusations being made against Tamils in Canada and the US.
Suicide bomber kills 10 in Sri Lanka army blast
[ AFP ] [ 11:38 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
A female suicide bomber blew herself up killing at least 10 bodyguards and critically wounding Sri Lanka's army chief Sarath Fonseka here, police and doctors said. The guards who escorted the army chief were killed by a woman who had explosives strapped to her body, police said on Tuesday, adding that the attack was inside the sprawling high-security military compound in Colombo. Dozens of ambulances were rushed to the complex to evacuate the wounded. Doctors said at least 10 people were killed and 11 more wounded in the powerful blast.
Sri Lanka army chief 'critical' after suspected Tiger suicide attack
Tuesday April 25, 10:49 PM
COLOMBO (AFP) - A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber pretending to be pregnant blew herself up in front of the Sri Lankan army chief's car leaving him critically wounded and five bodyguards dead, police said.
The attack on Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka's convoy inside the high security zone of Colombo's main military base is another blow to the island's troubled peace process and puts a 2002 ceasefire under intense pressure.
"Five of his bodyguards who escorted the car on motorcycles were killed on the spot," a police official said, adding that more than a dozen people were also wounded.
"There are casualties but the fate of the commander is not known yet," police chief Chandra Fernando told AFP on Tuesday. "He was critically wounded."
Relatives of soldiers being treated at the army hospital are allowed into the high security compound for lunch time visits and the suicide bomber may have slipped in with them, police said.
"The initial suspicion is that she posed as a pregnant woman and entered the compound," a police official said. "She jumped in front of the commander's convoy as it moved past the hospital."
The victims were rushed to the main civilian national Hospital of Colombo.
Hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said the commander had serious chest and abdomen injuries.
"His condition is serious. We have moved him in for an emergency surgery," Soysa told AFP. "Twelve others have been admitted to (the civilian) hospital."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but police said the attack bore all the hallmarks of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are known to be experts at suicide bombings.
Tuesday's bombing is the first suicide attack in Colombo since the July 2004 bombing by a woman who detonated explosives strapped to her body while she was being searched at a police station here.
Police believed the 2004 attack was aimed at a Tamil minister of the government who is staunchly opposed to the Tigers.
Fonseka is a high profile military commander who has taken a hard line against the Tamil Tigers, advocating a tougher stance against the rebels in the ongoing peace process.
The Tamil Tigers have claimed a long list of high profile victims by deploying suicide bombers.
The Tigers have been accused of assassinating president Ranasinghe Premadasa in May 1993, former Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and the former Sri Lankan navy chief Clancy Fernando in November 1992.
The guerrillas entered a Norwegian-brokered truce with the government in February 2002.
However, violence has escalated in Sri Lanka despite the ceasefire. The truce has come under intense pressure in the past two weeks after a spate of bomb attacks.
Attempts by peace broker Norway to get the two sides to resume ceasefire talks remain inconclusive, with special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer pursuing meetings in Sri Lanka.
The Tigers have indefinitely put off participation in the talks citing ongoing violence and logistical hurdles.
At least 70 people have been killed in bombings in the past two weeks alone while Tamil rebels say 70 civilians were slain by pro-government militia or by security forces, a charge denied by the military.
Sri Lanka truce monitors say military strike Tigers
[ Reuters ] [ 14:33 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
Nordic truce monitors said on Tuesday that Sri Lanka's navy and airforce were launching air and artillery strikes on Tamil Tiger positions near the northeastern port of Trincomalee. Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Ulf Henricsson, told Reuters that air strikes had been launched and that the navy was also targeting positions in rebel territory following a suicide bomb attack on the army headquarters in Colombo. "My assessment - which is also my hope - is that this is a limited retaliatory strike for today's attack," the retired Swedish major-general said. The air force said they could not comment for security reasons, but did not deny the report.
BRAKING NEWS: Sri Lanka slide back to war as war planes bombed Tamil villages
[ TCNR ] [ 15:01 GMT, Apr. 25, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka truce in tartars as government war planes bombed the rebel held Tamil villages in the eastern district of Trincomalee which seen an increase violence for the last three weeks. According to early reports, Israeli built Kfir supersonic fighter jets started bombing the rebel held villages of Sampoor, Ilakkanthai and Kattaiparichchan. The bombing started at 5.30 pm local time and still continuing even after 7 pm local time, according to local sources. There were 6 sorties so far, they further said. Loud explosions and deafening sound of Kfir continue to dominate the eastern costal town, a local resident said over the phone. No casualty figures made available at the moment. There are also reports of multi barrel artillery fire from the army positions to rebel held area as well. Another report said that the government naval vessels also bombed the costal areas of the rebel held areas and surrounded the areas as well.
S.Lanka hits Tigers after suicide blast kills 9
Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:56 PM BST
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military attacked Tamil Tiger rebel targets on Tuesday in retaliation after a suicide attack on the army's headquarters that killed nine, as the island's truce seemed to be unravelling.
Earlier in the day, a suspected Black Tiger suicide bomber pretending to be pregnant blew herself up in an attack on the army's commander, bringing violence that had been confined to the north and east to the capital.
The government said strikes on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) did not mean an immediate return to a two-decade civil war but it was the first official military action on the rebels since a 2002 truce.
"The LTTE did something this afternoon that clearly breached the cease-fire," head of the government peace secretariat, Palitha Kohona, told Reuters. "The government had to act. We still hope that the LTTE will decide to come to talks."
President Mahinda Rajapakse was due to address the nation at 1600 GMT.
About 110 people have died in the bloodiest two weeks since the Norwegian-brokered cease-fire halted the civil war that killed more than 64,000, with the rebels still keen to win their goal of a Tamil homeland in the island's north and east.
Peace talks seen as a way to halt the violence were supposed to take place in Geneva this week but talks arrangements became deadlocked on over how to transport a group of eastern rebel commanders to attend a pre-talks meeting.
But the rebels' real complaint is what they say is government complicity with a breakaway rebel group in the east attacking the mainstream Tigers.
FIGHTER JETS
The Tiger political leader in the northeastern district of Trincomalee, S.S. Elilan, told Reuters that his territory had been hit by bombs from Israeli-built Kfir fighter jets and shelling. He said he had no estimate on casualties.
With mediator Norway still trying to secure talks in Switzerland amid spiralling ethnic violence and tension, the unarmed Nordic mission monitoring the battered truce had called for restraint. They confirmed the military assault.
"Air strikes are confirmed, bombing and gunfire from Trincomalee naval base is confirmed," Swedish Major-General Ulf Henricsson, head of the Nordic mission monitoring the 2002 cease-fire, told Reuters.
"My assessment -- which is also my hope -- is that this is a limited retaliatory strike for today's attack."
Both the Tiger attack and the government retaliation were acts of war, said Jehan Perera, head of think-tank the National Peace Council.
"Our hope is that it will stop but escalatory dynamics are very difficult to stop once they are put in motion," he said.
The Tigers would not comment on whether they were behind the suicide bombing but they have a long history of launching such attacks.
The military said Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, a decorated combat veteran who said the truce was too soft on the rebels, had been undergoing surgery but was out of danger after the blast.
The army said eight people -- in addition to the bomber -- both civilian and military, had been killed and 27 wounded inside army headquarters, one of the most secure places in the country. Army photos showed bodies covered with plastic sheeting, and body parts strewn around.
The Colombo All-Share Index fell more than 3 percent after the blast, before recovering a little to close down 2.33 percent.
"Tomorrow there will be more panic selling and people will get emotional," said stockbroker Harsha Fernando before the government retaliation. "Twenty years of war have brought us nothing. We have to talk."