News vom 26.01.2006

[srilanka1998]

Frank McKenna resigns as ambassador to U.S.
[ CTV ] [ 02:43 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

Frank McKenna, Canada's ambassador to the United States, has resigned.He informed prime minister-designate Stephen Harper of his decision on Tuesday, Canadian Embassy officials in Washington said Wednesday.In his two-page letter to Harper, McKenna asked to be relieved of his duty, adding he shared a mutual commitment to Canada with Harper and that he would have had no difficulty working with a Conservative government.Earlier Wednesday in Washington, McKenna brushed off the question when reporters asked him about his future. Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed McKenna to the important diplomatic post just less than a year ago. However, Martin's Liberals were defeated in Monday's election, leading Martin to announce he was quitting as Liberal Party leader.


Sri Lanka peace talks: war canceled or delayed?
[ Reuters ] [ 11:05 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

Sri Lanka's government and Tamil Tiger rebels have agreed to meet for peace talks in Geneva, reducing the risk of an imminent return to conflict, but many analysts are warning the island is far from safe from a new war.Some analysts believe the rebels had made their point by bringing the country to the edge of war and then pulling back.With the Geneva talks aimed only at the implementation of the truce -- an agreement that has no provision to punish either party for breaches -- many analysts feel euphoria over the deal, including in financial markets, is overly optimistic.Some also say the government might now act to rein in Tiger renegades in the east who have been attacking the rebels. Truce monitors say the security forces have so far at least been turning a blind eye to their activities."There is no military solution to the conflict," another diplomat said. "It will only end when they sit down and talk. The question is if they are ready."


Sri Lanka Tigers release policeman after talks deal
[ Reuters ] [ 11:11 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels released a policeman as a gesture of goodwill on Thursday, a day after agreeing to peace talks with the government in Switzerland, but some asked if civil war had merely been postponed."People are not jumping around with joy," one aid worker told Reuters from the northern army-held enclave of Jaffna, hemmed in by rebel lines and the scene of some recent attacks."People are a bit more relaxed but I don't know that they think it will really work. They have seen this before." The government had refused to go to Norway, which has been facilitating the island's peace process since 1998 but which some of the Sinhalese majority say is too pro-rebel. The Tigers had refused to go anywhere else.Agreeing to meet in Geneva, the rebels said they would stop violence if alleged army abuse of Tamil civilians ceased.

 

[srilanka1998]

Letter to Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor
[ TamilCanadian ] [ 11:44 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

The Thamil-speaking people feel abandoned and hurt that you have failed to publicly condemn the atrocities perpetrated against them by the Sri Lankan Army, the Government of Sri Lanka and their paramilitary forces, or condole with the Thamil people over the loss of civilian lives in the NorthEast, in addition to those standing up defiantly for 'People Power,' including a great parliamentary stalwart and Thamil voice of freedom, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham. The International Community and Your Eminence should vigorously take a stand against these outrages and condemn the government of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. We are appalled by statements made by the Sri Lankan President to Your Eminence during Your visit - reported in the website of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster.


World:Palestinian PM to quit after poll
[ BBC ] [ 11:47 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei has announced his resignation, saying Hamas must form the next government following the parliamentary elections. It comes as the militant Islamic group appeared to be heading for a shock win. With counting still under way, officials from the ruling Fatah party said Hamas had won a majority. Official results are due at 1900 (1700 GMT). Israel, the US and the EU consider Hamas a terrorist group and have said they do not want to deal with it. Mr Qurei has gone to see Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to hand in his formal resignation.Hours before official results were due to be released, Fatah officials privately admitted that Hamas had won. Hamas claimed it had won at least 70 seats in the 132-member parliament.


Warring Factions in Sri Lanka Agree to Resume Peace Talks
[ New York Times ] [ 12:50 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

In a measure of how intractable this country's ethnic conflict is, the warring parties agreed Wednesday to begin talking to each other again, after more than 18 months of deadlock over a site for peace talks and with scores of killings in the meantime. The talks would focus on strengthening an all-but-ineffectual four-year-old cease-fire agreement. They are scheduled to take place in Geneva, starting as early as February. The agreement, though modest in scope, represents a major breakthrough in the decade-long war between the ethnic-Sinhalese-dominated government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the separatist guerrilla outfit that effectively runs a swath of the country's north and east. It is better known as the L.T.T.E.


U.S. welcomes breakthrough in Sri Lanka's peace process
(Kyodo) Thursday January 26, 7:13 PM

The United States welcomes the agreement between the Sri Lanka government and the Tamil Tiger rebels to break a three-year deadlock and resume negotiations in Geneva next month, according to a statement issued Thursday by the U.S. Embassy.
The United States commends the government for its "restraint in the face of recent provocative attacks," reiterated its support for Sri Lanka's territorial integrity and called on the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to take immediate action to prevent violence and uphold the terms of the cease-fire agreement of 2002, the statement said.

The statement, released by U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, quoted remarks made in Colombo earlier this week by U.S. Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, who said that the conflict "will end only when the LTTE and the government resume discussions, and the LTTE are convinced to stop using violence and acts of terror as political weapons."

"The United States and the other co-chairs of the Tokyo Donors' Conference -- the European Union, Japan and Norway -- have called repeatedly for a return to the negotiating table to work towards a stable permanent peace. The United States remains fully committed to the Sri Lankan peace process," the statement said.


Sri Lanka peace hopes soar on ceasefire talks
Thu Jan 26, 4:11 AM ET
COLOMBO (AFP)

Shares soared in Sri Lanka as fears of a return to full-scale war faded after the government and Tamil Tiger rebels agreed to their first face-to-face meeting in three years.

The announcement of Norwegian-brokered talks in Geneva reversed sharp falls on the stock market since new President Mahinda Rajapakse came to power in November, traders said on Thursday.

Norway's peace envoy Erik Solheim on Wednesday clinched a deal between the Tigers and the Colombo government to start talks by the middle of next month to implement fully a truce Oslo had put in place since February 2002.

"The market is cheering yesterday's breakthrough," said Elton Ebert, a Colombo Stock Exchange trader. "This is the best news we have had in months."

"People are interested in getting back in to the market," said Vajira Premawardhana, head of research at Lanka Orix Securities. "The bullish sentiment will continue, at least, for a week."

Rajapakse's election saw the biggest fall on the market in a single day -- 6.8 percent. Shares progressively went down another 16.32 percent until Thursday's surge.

Rajapakse won the November presidential election on a promise to adopt a brand-new peace process, but has since made a U-turn and asked peace broker Norway to stay on.

Mounting violence has left at least 152 people dead since December -- most of them government soldiers.

But Wednesday's announcement of renewed talks lifted the market.

The benchmark All-Share Price index moved beyond the psychologically important 2,000 barrier to reach 2,109, or 7.13 percent up, in the first four hours of trading, the stock exchange said.

The United States and the United Nations were quick to hail the breakthrough in Sri Lanka's deadlocked peace process while Switzerland said it was ready to host the negotiations.

"Switzerland supports the peace process under Norwegian facilitation ... it has declared itself ready that talks between the conflict parties can take place in Switzerland," the Swiss embassy here said in a statement.

Sri Lanka expressed "major relief" and said prospects of a slide back to war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had subsided.

Government spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva said Norway had managed a "major breakthrough" in a process that was threatened with collapse after Rajapakse came to power and violence escalated.

"This is a major relief to the government and to the citizens of Sri Lanka," de Silva said.

The president was initially described by the Tigers as a "war candidate" and the rebels warned him in November to offer a reasonable power-sharing deal or risk a return to war later this year.

Solheim said Wednesday that Rajapakse was "eager" for a peaceful solution to the conflict which has claimed over 60,000 lives over three decades.

"We are confident that the killings will now stop," de Silva said after a wave of violence that undermined the four-year truce.

De Silva said the two sides would initially debate strengthening the ceasefire and halting the killings, but the government was not restricting the scope of the discussions with the LTTE.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomed the Norwegian efforts in Sri Lanka.

The United States, which has banned the LTTE and described them as "reprehensible terrorist organisation", supported early peace talks and commended the Colombo government for showing restraint in the face of rebel attacks.

Four previous attempts at a peace agreement through negotiations have ended in failure.

Colombo and the Tigers had been locked in a bitter disagreement over a venue for further talks, with the rebels insisting on Oslo. The new government wanted an Asian venue.

Before leaving Sri Lanka later Thursday, Solheim was to re-open two Buddhist temples rebuilt with Norwegian aid after being devastated by the December 2004 tsunami, diplomats said.


'Army kills' senior Tiger rebel
[ BBC ] [ 16:22 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

Tamil Tiger rebels say one of their senior officers has been killed after the Sri Lankan army shelled one their camps in the east of the country. An army officer said several rebels had died in the clash in Batticaloa, but he did not say if the army was involved. The incident comes a day after the government and the rebels agreed to hold talks in Switzerland to shore up a shaky truce. A recent surge in violence have raised fears of a return to all-out war. Both sides have accused each other of violating a ceasefire deal struck in 2002. The Tigers allege that the government is backing paramilitary groups, while Colombo is demanding the rebels end attacks on its soldiers.

 

[srilanka1998]

Hamas win challenges US policy
[ BBC ] [ 19:59 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

For all President George W Bush's talk of bringing democracy to the Middle East, Hamas' victory in a ballot of the Palestinian people is as awkward a result as he could have expected. The Bush administration has made it clear it has no intention of dealing with a party that has "one foot in politics and another in terror". So Hamas' win represents a policy dilemma for the US and an obstacle to its hopes of negotiating some form of peace in the Middle East. Asked if such hopes were dead, Mr Bush tried his best to sound optimistic at a White House news conference. "Peace is never dead because people want peace," he said. "The best hope for peace in the Middle East is two democracies living side by side."


Norway funds for temples
[ BBC ] [ 20:11 GMT, Jan. 26, 2006 ]

The Norwegians are committed to peace and they have no other agendas in Sri lanka said the Norwegian Minister for International Development. Erik Solheim was speaking after declaring open a Buddhist meditation centre at Aluthgama in the Kalutara district. The construction of the Kalawilawatta Dharmadvipa meditation centre is part of a rehabilitation programme providing assistance to temples that were affected by the Tsunami. Norwegians who have been accused as "anti-Buddihist" by sections of the Sinhala community in the south are to provide forty temples with aid. Solheim expressed optimism on the current developments and said that as the parties have now agreed to talk violence may be reduced.