srilanka1998
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- 26. Juli 2005
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JVP files case against UPFA Balasingham rejects Sri Lanka’s "amendment" concept as absurd
[ TamilNet ] [ 11:00 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), rejected outright the Sri Lanka government’s claim that the joint communiqué, issued after the Geneva talks, amounted to an amendment to the original Ceasefire Agreement. "The LTTE was totally against any amendments or revision of the original Ceasefire Agreement. Our delegation even threatened to walk out of the peace talks if the Sri Lankan government attempted to bring any changes in the original document. We have also out-rightly rejected H.L. De Silva’s contention that the Ceasefire Agreement is illegal and constitutionally invalid. It is very amusing to note that the Sri Lankan delegates, having failed to advance their ludicrous theories at the negotiating table in Geneva, are holding press meets in Colombo to propagate their defunct propositions. These sinister attempts to misrepresent the current peace dialogue will seriously impair the mutual trust between the parties and undermine the peace process”, Mr Balasingham declared.
Peace Talks That Have Gone Nowhere
[ TamilCanadian ] [ 11:13 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
A detailed analysis of the papers presented by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – such as are made public, will be dealt with shortly. This paper is to briefly review the progress of the Talks (or lack of it). The closing statement released by the Norwegian Minister of International Development on 23.2.2006 in Geneva at the end of the first round of talks on the implementation of the Ceasefire, is about the weakest statement I have read.To “respect” an agreement is to heed it, to “uphold” it is to maintain or confirm it. Neither word indicates the need to implement the Agreement (which is what the Conference was all about). If the participants were serious about this, the wording should have been, “The GOSL and the LTTE are committed to implement the Ceasefire Agreement”. The GoSL , in its opening statement, said that it wanted “to express our views in a frank and forthright manner, rather than make vague and ambiguous statements that would serve no useful purpose…” Well, this is a vague and ambiguous statement, if ever there was one.
Residents venture back out as Sri Lanka violence ebbs
[ Reuters ] [ 11:20 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
Tensions died down after government and rebels agreed to hold talks in Geneva. Neither side trusts the other. The government has repeatedly rejected demands for a separate Tamil homeland and it is unclear if the government will actively disarm a group of breakaway rebels in the east as the Tigers demand. "The south was only worried about the war because the stock market would collapse and the tourists would stop coming," said 60-year-old lawyer Sivapalam Kasinather. "Peace will not happen overnight. We are only having talks now because of the escalation of violence in January." But while the two sides have agreed to meet again in April, the Tigers say they almost walked out of last week's talks, a move diplomats say would almost certainly have heralded a return to a war that killed more than 64,000 people and devastated the Tamil-dominated north and east.
'Western technological advantage is beginning to decline'
[ Rediff ] [ 11:24 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
At the International Conference for Peace and Justice in South Asia in Mumbai, Jeremy Corbyn was keen to listen, articulate his opinions and curious about alternative voices. Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, has been a voice against the war in Iraq and is organising a massive anti-war protest to be held in London next month. He is an advocate of disarmament and supports liberation struggles in various countries, especially Palestine. I think the United States is making a huge effort to gain a political foothold in South Asia -– Pakistan, of course, but also India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In today's world, the West can increasingly exercise control by withholding or sharing technological expertise. This nuclear deal is one such instance. But, at the same time, the Western technological advantage is beginning to decline.
Monks, Marxists slam Sri Lanka's Swiss talks outcome
[ AFP ] [ 13:24 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Buddhist monks and Marxists, who provide key support to the ruling coalition, slammed the government for agreeing to uphold a controversial truce during talks in Switzerland with Tamil Tiger rebels.The Marxist JVP, or People's Liberation Front, said negotiators were pressured by peace broker Norway and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to accept the 2002 truce arranged by Oslo.The all-Buddhist monk party, the JHU, said the agreement by the government to uphold the truce was a letdown. "This goes against what the president had agreed with us," its leader Omalpe Sobitha said.The LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham told AFP last week that they extracted an agreement from Colombo to honour the truce after threatening to walk out of the talks at Celigny near Geneva.Both sides have agreed to stop the killings, at least till their next round of talks in April.
Sri Lankan military, Tamil Tigers trade charges of violating Geneva commitments
[ AP ] [ 13:27 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lanka's government accused each other Monday of failing to honor commitments made at just-concluded peace talks in Geneva intended to preserve a fragile cease-fire. The rebels claimed the military failed to stop a member of a rival Tamil group spotted freely carrying a weapon in government-controlled territory, while the military held that the Tamil Tigers were trying to intimidate government troops.On Friday, a member of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party was seen traveling with a handgun on government-controlled Delft island and troops there did nothing to restrict him, the rebel group said."This is a violation of the cease-fire and words given by the government at Geneva,' said Daya Master, a spokesman for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Sri Lanka tsunami-displaced squat to demand new homes
[ Reuters ] [ 14:02 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
About 1,000 Sri Lankans who lost their homes to Asia's tsunami have overrun government land in the island's east and vowed on Monday to stay until they are built new homes from more than $3 billion in aid the state received. Police said the group had put up shelters in the grounds of the divisional secretariat at Kalmunai in the eastern district of Ampara, which was ravaged by the Dec. 2004 tsunami. "The protesters are demanding a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapakse and the government agent in the area is making arrangements to set up a meeting," said Nihal Karunaratne, Deputy Inspector-General of Police.
JVP files case against UPFA
[ BBC Sinhala Service ] [ 14:13 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
The judiciary in Sri Lanka have allowed the petitioners to amend a case against the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed between the government and the Tamil Tigers. The petitioners, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) anfd Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) were allowed to site the cabinet of ministers of the current government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the respondents.The Appeals Court has been urged to rule that the CFA is invalid.The cabinet of ministers of Wickramasinghe government and the LTTE leader have initially been sited as the respondents.The petitioners requested the courts to send notice to the Tamil Tiger leader via LTTE peace secretariat in Kilinochchi.The hearing was postponed to 29 March.
[ TamilNet ] [ 11:00 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), rejected outright the Sri Lanka government’s claim that the joint communiqué, issued after the Geneva talks, amounted to an amendment to the original Ceasefire Agreement. "The LTTE was totally against any amendments or revision of the original Ceasefire Agreement. Our delegation even threatened to walk out of the peace talks if the Sri Lankan government attempted to bring any changes in the original document. We have also out-rightly rejected H.L. De Silva’s contention that the Ceasefire Agreement is illegal and constitutionally invalid. It is very amusing to note that the Sri Lankan delegates, having failed to advance their ludicrous theories at the negotiating table in Geneva, are holding press meets in Colombo to propagate their defunct propositions. These sinister attempts to misrepresent the current peace dialogue will seriously impair the mutual trust between the parties and undermine the peace process”, Mr Balasingham declared.
Peace Talks That Have Gone Nowhere
[ TamilCanadian ] [ 11:13 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
A detailed analysis of the papers presented by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – such as are made public, will be dealt with shortly. This paper is to briefly review the progress of the Talks (or lack of it). The closing statement released by the Norwegian Minister of International Development on 23.2.2006 in Geneva at the end of the first round of talks on the implementation of the Ceasefire, is about the weakest statement I have read.To “respect” an agreement is to heed it, to “uphold” it is to maintain or confirm it. Neither word indicates the need to implement the Agreement (which is what the Conference was all about). If the participants were serious about this, the wording should have been, “The GOSL and the LTTE are committed to implement the Ceasefire Agreement”. The GoSL , in its opening statement, said that it wanted “to express our views in a frank and forthright manner, rather than make vague and ambiguous statements that would serve no useful purpose…” Well, this is a vague and ambiguous statement, if ever there was one.
Residents venture back out as Sri Lanka violence ebbs
[ Reuters ] [ 11:20 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
Tensions died down after government and rebels agreed to hold talks in Geneva. Neither side trusts the other. The government has repeatedly rejected demands for a separate Tamil homeland and it is unclear if the government will actively disarm a group of breakaway rebels in the east as the Tigers demand. "The south was only worried about the war because the stock market would collapse and the tourists would stop coming," said 60-year-old lawyer Sivapalam Kasinather. "Peace will not happen overnight. We are only having talks now because of the escalation of violence in January." But while the two sides have agreed to meet again in April, the Tigers say they almost walked out of last week's talks, a move diplomats say would almost certainly have heralded a return to a war that killed more than 64,000 people and devastated the Tamil-dominated north and east.
'Western technological advantage is beginning to decline'
[ Rediff ] [ 11:24 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
At the International Conference for Peace and Justice in South Asia in Mumbai, Jeremy Corbyn was keen to listen, articulate his opinions and curious about alternative voices. Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, has been a voice against the war in Iraq and is organising a massive anti-war protest to be held in London next month. He is an advocate of disarmament and supports liberation struggles in various countries, especially Palestine. I think the United States is making a huge effort to gain a political foothold in South Asia -– Pakistan, of course, but also India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In today's world, the West can increasingly exercise control by withholding or sharing technological expertise. This nuclear deal is one such instance. But, at the same time, the Western technological advantage is beginning to decline.
Monks, Marxists slam Sri Lanka's Swiss talks outcome
[ AFP ] [ 13:24 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Buddhist monks and Marxists, who provide key support to the ruling coalition, slammed the government for agreeing to uphold a controversial truce during talks in Switzerland with Tamil Tiger rebels.The Marxist JVP, or People's Liberation Front, said negotiators were pressured by peace broker Norway and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to accept the 2002 truce arranged by Oslo.The all-Buddhist monk party, the JHU, said the agreement by the government to uphold the truce was a letdown. "This goes against what the president had agreed with us," its leader Omalpe Sobitha said.The LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham told AFP last week that they extracted an agreement from Colombo to honour the truce after threatening to walk out of the talks at Celigny near Geneva.Both sides have agreed to stop the killings, at least till their next round of talks in April.
Sri Lankan military, Tamil Tigers trade charges of violating Geneva commitments
[ AP ] [ 13:27 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lanka's government accused each other Monday of failing to honor commitments made at just-concluded peace talks in Geneva intended to preserve a fragile cease-fire. The rebels claimed the military failed to stop a member of a rival Tamil group spotted freely carrying a weapon in government-controlled territory, while the military held that the Tamil Tigers were trying to intimidate government troops.On Friday, a member of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party was seen traveling with a handgun on government-controlled Delft island and troops there did nothing to restrict him, the rebel group said."This is a violation of the cease-fire and words given by the government at Geneva,' said Daya Master, a spokesman for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Sri Lanka tsunami-displaced squat to demand new homes
[ Reuters ] [ 14:02 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
About 1,000 Sri Lankans who lost their homes to Asia's tsunami have overrun government land in the island's east and vowed on Monday to stay until they are built new homes from more than $3 billion in aid the state received. Police said the group had put up shelters in the grounds of the divisional secretariat at Kalmunai in the eastern district of Ampara, which was ravaged by the Dec. 2004 tsunami. "The protesters are demanding a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapakse and the government agent in the area is making arrangements to set up a meeting," said Nihal Karunaratne, Deputy Inspector-General of Police.
JVP files case against UPFA
[ BBC Sinhala Service ] [ 14:13 GMT, Feb. 27, 2006 ]
The judiciary in Sri Lanka have allowed the petitioners to amend a case against the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed between the government and the Tamil Tigers. The petitioners, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) anfd Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) were allowed to site the cabinet of ministers of the current government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the respondents.The Appeals Court has been urged to rule that the CFA is invalid.The cabinet of ministers of Wickramasinghe government and the LTTE leader have initially been sited as the respondents.The petitioners requested the courts to send notice to the Tamil Tiger leader via LTTE peace secretariat in Kilinochchi.The hearing was postponed to 29 March.