News vom 31.01.2006

[srilanka1998]

Aid workers abducted in Sri Lanka
[ ABC ] [ 11:58 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

Five Sri Lankans relief workers have reportedly been abducted in the east of the country despite an unofficial truce in the area. The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation says their employees were engaged in tsunami relief work. It says they were forced out of their vehicle near a Sri Lankan military checkpoint in Batticaloa on Sunday by what were termed "unidentified paramilitary personnel". The abduction came ahead of key talks between the Sri Lanka government and Tamil Tiger separatists aimed at saving their ceasefire. The relief organisation has appealed for the workers' safe return.


Tamil rebels issue peace warning
[ BBC ] [ 12:01 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka say the abduction of five Tamil aid workers in the east could make it "difficult" for them to attend peace talks in Geneva. The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), a group closely linked with the Tigers, said unidentified men kidnapped five of its employees on Monday. It is not clear who was behind the apparent abduction but the Tigers hinted at a breakaway rebel faction. A recent surge in violence has raised fears of a return to all-out war. If Tamil civilians or humanitarian organisation members are being abducted or killed, it makes it very difficult for us to go to Geneva," senior rebel official S Puleedevan told Reuters news agency. "We don't want to say Geneva will not happen. We'd like to wait and see."


Sri Lanka rebels say kidnap makes talks "difficult"
[ Reuters ] [ 12:02 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels said on Tuesday that the abduction of five Tamil aid workers might make it "difficult" for them to attend peace talks with the government in Switzerland seen key to averting a new civil war. The Tigers say that on Monday army-backed paramilitaries kidnapped five accountants from the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) -- an agency close to the rebels. The abductors told 10 staff left behind to tell the families of those taken to buy coffins, the rebels said. "If Tamil civilians or humanitarian organisation members are being abducted or killed, it makes it very difficult for us to go to Geneva," head of the rebel peace secretariat S. Puleedevan told Reuters by phone from rebel territory. "We don't want to say Geneva will not happen. We'd like to wait and see."


TRO Staff Accountants Kidnapped by Paramilitary at Welikanda, Polunnaruwa District
[ TRO ] [ 12:16 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

TRO has been informed that five (5) staff members travelling from the Batticaloa office to Vanvuniya for training have been stopped by unidentified paramilitary personnel immediately after the Welikanda, (Polunnaruwa District) Sri Lankan Army Checkpoint at approximately 2:00 pm 30 January, 2006. Fifteen (15) TRO Batticaloa staff members were travelling from Batticaloa. The TRO staff vehicle had registered at the Welikanda army checkpoint and was continuing its journey when a 'white van' that had been following them obstructed their path and forced them to stop. Five (5) members were dragged out of the TRO van and forced into the 'white van' the others were assaulted and forced to go back to Batticaloa.


The Latest Gimmicks
[ TamilCanadian ] [ 12:26 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

The situation is a volatile one, designed to trigger super power retaliation against the victims of Sinhalese discrimination and terror. It will take much more than ju jutsu for us to turn the tide in our favor The Americans have ignored their concept of democracy, which is that the majority can rule, but not at the expense of minorities. In Sri Lanka,they have ignored that formula, and stood for the proposition that the majority can rule without restrictions, as long as it satisfies American diplomatic adventures. It is time that this age old diplomatic game of 'We are for you, but also against you' is ended. It is time the Americans recognized that the disguised democracy practiced in Sri Lanka is no democracy at all. It is time they called a dictator, a dictator when they see one before them. It is time they condemned a constitution that guarantees to the Sinhalese Buddhists a right to perpetuate their discriminatory rule against all minorities, as nothing more than a non democratic farce.


Sri Lanka truce may collapse: Study
[ IANS ] [ 12:37 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

Sri Lanka's ceasefire between the Tamil Tiger guerrillas and the government can collapse and trigger renewed fighting, a path-breaking international study on the peace process has cautioned. At the same time, it is "too early to talk of success or failure" of the Norwegian-mediated peace process between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said the report, "Aid, Conflict and Peace Building in Sri Lanka, 2000-2005". The 105-page Strategic Conflict Assessment said: "The ceasefire in its current form may not survive given the level of pressure being placed upon it.


Who is the indigenous Sri Lankan?
[ Hindustan Times ] [ 12:46 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

One of the most contentious issues in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is the question of indigenousness. Which community is indigenous and which is not? Are the Sinhalas the only indigenous people or the first to arrive in the island? In other words, are the Tamils outsiders or later entrants? Is Sri Lanka a multi-ethnic country or is it essentially a Sinhala country with the other groups being a mere historical add on? When the conflict between the majority Sinhalas and the minority Tamils became the central issue in post-independence Sri Lankan politics, both sides used "history" to buttress their respective cases.


One step at a time towards peace in Sri Lanka, president says
[ AFP ] [ 12:47 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

Sri Lanka will adopt a step-by-step approach to peace with Tamil Tiger rebels and will try to strengthen the ceasefire in a new round of talks in February, President Mahinda Rajapakse said. "The most important thing is to stop violence," he told AFP in an interview on Tuesday. More than 150 people have been killed since Rajapakse took office at the end of November promising a new peace process. "If we can stop the violence" then peace negotiations can go on, he said in his Colombo office. "It will be step-by-step."


S.Lanka Tigers warn kidnappings may hurt peace bid
[ Reuters ] [ 12:49 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels said on Tuesday that the kidnapping of five Tamil aid workers in the island's east could affect next month's peace talks in Switzerland and added the government might be to blame. The Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), which is considered close to the Tigers, said five employees were taken away by unidentified men on Monday in Welikanda, about 150 km (94 miles) from Colombo, after their van crossed an army checkpoint. "It will affect the atmosphere of the peace process," media co-ordinator Daya Master of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam told Reuters from the rebel-held north.



Tamil Tiger rebels threaten to pull out of peace talks after alleged abduction of Tamils
Updated:2006-01-31 04:20:20
By DILIP GANGULUY
AP

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - The Tamil Tiger rebels said Tuesday they will pull out of Sri Lankan peace talks scheduled to be held in Switzerland in mid-February unless the government takes greater steps to protect Tamils against abductions.

Participation in the talks will depend on what steps the government takes to stop abductions and harassment of Tamils, a senior rebel official, Seevaratnam Puleedevan, told The Associated Press from the rebels' de-facto capital of Kilinochchi.

On Monday, five Tamil employees of a relief agency were kidnapped, the rebels said. There was no independent confirmation of the report.

"This is a very serious incident and it will be very difficult to convince Tamil people to go for talks when the harassment is going on," Puleedevan said when reached on his satellite phone. He accused "paramilitary personnel" - a term the rebels often uses for a renegade faction - of kidnapping the five ethnic Tamil relief workers.

Meanwhile, the renegade Tamil Tiger faction said it has offered its rival mainstream rebel group a cease-fire ahead of the talks, hoping to bring Sri Lanka permanent peace.

"This unilateral cease-fire is declared to create a conducive environment for the Sri Lankan president (Mahinda Rajapakse) to continue with his negotiations to bring about a permanent" end to the civil war, the breakaway Peoples' Liberation Front of Tamil Eelam said in a statement made available Tuesday to The Associated Press.

Puleedevan declined to comment on the declaration, saying the cease-fire agreement was between the mainstream group and the government and there was no scaoe for a third player.

The Peoples' Liberation Front of Tamil Eelam broke from the mainstream LTTE in March 2004 with about 6,000 fighters.

A month later the LTTE had largely suppressed its rivals, but their leader is still believed to have a significant number of followers in the island country's east.

The LTTE - whose main power base in the north - has accused Sri Lanka's military of backing the breakaway faction - a charge the military denies.

The LTTE started fighting in 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka's northeast, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The conflict killed about 65,000 people.

Norway brokered a 2002 cease-fire and helped coordinate six rounds of government-rebel peace talks, which broke down due to disagreements over the LTTE's demands for extensive autonomy.


Melbourne Tamils Remember Joseph Pararajasingham
[ ETA ] [ 13:31 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

Melbourne Tamils, politicians and community leaders gathered on Thursday, 26 January, to pay homage to the slain senior Tamil parliamentarian and human rights activist Joseph Pararajasingham, held at the Good Shepard Church Hall, Wheelers Hill. Most Rev. Hilton Deakin, Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, lit a candle and inaugurated the meeting with a prayer for the repose of the soul of Joseph Pararajasingham. Later in his speech, Bishop Deakin recalled his meeting with Mr Pararajasingham last May and said 'The murder of this affable and ardent human rights advocate in the Cathedral in his electorate, speaks volumes of the level of brutality faced by those who stand up for the oppressed in Sri Lanka'.


US expresses concern over alleged abduction of Tamil aid workers
[ UNI ] [ 17:21 GMT, Jan. 31, 2006 ]

The United States today expressed concern about the reported kidnapping of five members of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) at Welikanda in Polonnaruwa District of Sri Lanka. ''The Embassy urges the relevant authorities to rapidly investigate these allegations. The Embassy again calls on all parties to exercise restraint and calm, especially in the run-up to the cease-fire talks in Geneva,'' a statement from the US Embassy here said this evening.The TRO is a registered non-government organisation (NGO) in Sri Lanka and said to involve in post-tsunami and post-war humanitarian relief and development work especially in the North-East.The TRO is a registered non-government organisation (NGO) in Sri Lanka and said to involve in post-tsunami and post-war humanitarian relief and development work especially in the North-East.

 

[srilanka1998]

Security News

Canada deports Tamil underworld leader
Tuesday, January 31, 2006, 13:31 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Jan 31, Colombo: A Toronto-based Tamil underworld leader has been deported by Canadian immigration authorities after the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) determined he was a danger to the public.

Media reports said the gang leader, identified as Jeyaseelam Thuraisingam, came to Canada 17 years ago as a refugee and 'promptly embarked on a life of crime and violence'.

'He was deported to Sri Lanka last Monday, the same day his final court appeal was thrown out,' reports said. His gang was the Scarborough wing of the VVT, which immigration authorities describe as 'a group of military-trained terrorists from Sri Lanka' who help raise money for the LTTE.


US expresses concern over alleged abduction of Tamil aid workers
Colombo | January 31, 2006 8:37:42 PM IST

The United States today expressed concern about the reported kidnapping of five members of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) at Welikanda in Polonnaruwa District of Sri Lanka.
''The Embassy urges the relevant authorities to rapidly investigate these allegations. The Embassy again calls on all parties to exercise restraint and calm, especially in the run-up to the cease-fire talks in Geneva,'' a statement from the US Embassy here said this evening.

The TRO is a registered non-government organisation (NGO) in Sri Lanka and said to involve in post-tsunami and post-war humanitarian relief and development work especially in the North-East.

Widely seen as one of the pro-LTTE organisations, the TRO in a statement said five of its staff members ''travelling from the Batticaloa office to Vavuniya for training had been stopped by unidentified paramilitary personnel immediately after the Welikanda, (Polonnaruwa District) Sri Lankan Army Checkpoint yesterday afternoon.

''Five members were dragged out of the TRO van and forced into the 'white van', while the others were assaulted and forced to go back to Batticaloa,'' the TRO statement said.

The abduction has come a couple of days after the government and LTTE agreed to hold direct meeting in Geneva to strengthen the implementation mechanism of the deteriorating ceasefire agreement in mid-February.

''TRO would like to appeal to the Government of Sri Lanka, the international community and the Sri Lankan Civil Society to make every effort to assure the safe return of these persons to their families,'' the TRO statement said.


'Karuna' truce to help Lankan peace process
V.S. Sambandan

Colombo: The former special commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), V. Muralitharan, has declared a "unilateral ceasefire" in order to "create a conducive environment" for the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse, "to continue with his negotiations to bring about a permanent settlement and peace," a report in a website said.

According to a report in the Asian Tribune, the truce was declared by Mr. Muralitharan (also known as `Col.' Karuna) in a statement to the website.

The report of the "unilateral ceasefire" by `Col.' Karuna gains significance as the operations of his groups members in eastern Sri Lanka is one of the key issues to be discussed next month between Colombo and the Tigers.

"After reviewing the current situation, the politburo of the Tamil Eelam Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) wish to declare first that the party is committed totally to contribute its share to restore sustainable peace and harmony to our Tamil people, and the Tamil-speaking people of this country who have been victims of a brutal and needless war waged by the Vanni Tigers."

`Col.' Karuna also said he would welcome a "genuine and lasting settlement" based on the recent agreement between Colombo and the LTTE to resume talks in Geneva.

While offering the truce, `the TMVP statement also said: "in case our members or our supporters are attacked, we will not hesitate to retaliate against those who wish to test our resolve."

However, expressing doubts, he said "we wish to state in very clear terms that we will never trust or take into our confidence," the LTTE leader V. Prabakaran and the LTTE.

The LTTE had agreed to talks as a result of "three compelling reasons," including what the TMVP termed as the inability of the LTTE to launch a "serious military campaign without the presence and participation" of the eastern cadres.`Col." Karuna was the LTTE's longest-serving regional commander until his rebellion in 2004. Since the rebellion, there have been continued internecine killings in eastern Sri Lanka.


'IGP acting unconstutionaly '

The police chief of Sri Lanka has been accused for using powers which do not belong to him.
In a petition filed to the Supreme Court the Centre of Policy Alternatives (CPA) points out that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is using powers designated to the Police Commission.

The police commission is dysfunctional as members to this commission as well as several other constitutional commissions have not been appointed since March 2004.

Former chairman of the Police commission Ranjith Abeysooriya said to Sandeshaya 'according to the law it's only the police commission that could carry out cretain functions and if these functions are carried out by the IGP they become illegal'.

Members to the public services commission are also yet to be appointed.

CPA has requested courts to intervene in appointing members to all the constitutional commissions and to serve an interim order preventing the IGP from carrying out duties assigned to the police commission.

The Prime Minister, speaker and the presidential secretary are among several others who have been named as respondents.

Independent constutional commissions were proposed and established under the 17th constutional amendment and all parties unanimously endorsed it.


JAFFNA
Situation Report as at UTC 0815(1415) 31
January 2006
[Web updated at UTC 0827 on 31 January 2006]

One APM Recovered At PULOLY
TROOPS ON ROAD CLEARING DUTIES at PULOLY south in JAFFNA on Monday (30) around 1.45 p.m. recovered an Anti Personnel Mine (APM) laid beside the roadside.
Later, the Army Bomb Disposal team de-fused it.
Meanwhile, one soldier received minor injuries when he accidentally trod on a trap gun during a search conducted in KAPPADU, SARASALAI area in JAFFNA. on Tuesday (31) around 7.45 a.m.
The injured soldier was referred for medical treatment.


Sri Lanka truce may collapse, lead to war: study
By M.R. Narayan Swamy,

New Delhi: Sri Lanka's ceasefire between the Tamil Tiger guerrillas and the government can collapse and trigger renewed fighting, a path-breaking international study on the peace process has cautioned.

At the same time, it is "too early to talk of success or failure" of the Norwegian-mediated peace process between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said the report, "Aid, Conflict and Peace Building in Sri Lanka, 2000-2005". A copy of the study was made available to IANS.

Written before the LTTE and the government agreed to meet in Geneva next month, the 105-page Strategic Conflict Assessment said: "The ceasefire in its current form may not survive given the level of pressure being placed upon it.

"There may be a need therefore to consider extending the scope of the CFA (ceasefire agreement) to cover the full range of military actors and to strengthen its human rights component."

It added: "The potential for a return to war is inherent in the current situation. A possible trigger for this could be the growing 'shadow war' in the (country's) east (between the LTTE and its breakaway faction)."

Authored by Jonathan Goodhand, a lecturer in the University of London, and Bart Klem, a researcher at the Conflict Research Unit of the Clingendael Institute, the study followed the initiative of the governments of Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden besides the World Bank and The Asia Foundation.

The sweeping study, made public Monday, covers all aspects of the Sri Lankan conflict which has claimed over 60,000 lives since the LTTE began waging an armed campaign in 1983 for a Tamil homeland in the island's north and east. It also extends to all aspects of the faltering and blood-soaked peace process.

The authors say the "key to peace" lies in southern Sri Lanka, home to the country's majority Sinhalese community that has been accused of trying to crush the aspirations of the Tamil minority.

"The southern polity holds the key to peace in Sri Lanka... A bipartisan approach (involving the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the United National Party) is therefore a sine qua non for peace making.

"The two parties command the confidence of 60 percent of the electorate, potentially a formidable constituency for peace."

The study says the "legitimate concerns" of radical Sinhalese parties such as the JVP and the JHU needed to be addressed and called for "an adequate formula for including the Muslim representatives in the peace process".

The report pointed out shortcomings in the peace process and underlined the need to understand the LTTE's apprehensions as well as character.

It referred to the high levels of political violence since the truce came into being in 2002 and the growth of insecurity in the east following the 2004 split in the LTTE engineered by its former regional commander, V. Muraleedharan alias Karuna.

"The step-by-step approach was based on the assumption that a limited peace could ultimately lead to a transformative peace. However with hindsight there could never be complete 'normalization' until the core political issues were addressed.

"Moreover without a clear roadmap for peace talks, the nature of the end goal was always unclear, which created anxieties among external and internal stakeholders."

The peace process "also brought out in sharp relief the LTTE's Janus-headed character and the tensions between its military and political 'faces'.

"In parallel with brutal repression of internal dissent, continued re-armament and repeated ceasefire violations, there has been a new 'offensive' in pursuit of international and domestic legitimacy.

"'No war-no peace' has enabled the LTTE to extend its control. But it has also brought new challenges to its hegemony, namely, the re-emergence of eastern regionalism, the growing radicalization of Muslims and the demands that it conform to international norms on human rights and democracy, associated with the internationalization of the peace process."

The study added: "Sri Lanka's current situation may be characterized as a 'pause in conflict'... A negative equilibrium has developed in which it is about managing the ceasefire rather than advancing the peace process...

"Under the guise of a ceasefire, the permissive conditions have been created for pervasive human rights abuses and criminality... The credibility of the ceasefire agreement and its monitors has become increasingly tenuous, as the number and intensity of the violations increase...

"The perception that the international community (was) prepared to soft pedal on human rights issues, particularly in relation to the LTTE, played a role in undermining the credibility of the (previous) UNF government in the eyes of India and the southern electorate."

The study has called for "a more inclusive approach to conflict resolution" and said there were scope and need to substantially scale up assistance in the northeast, the war zone, to build a viable peace dividend.


Relief workers abducted in Sri Lanka despite truce
Tue Jan 31, 12:12 AM ET

COLOMBO (AFP) - Five Sri Lankans relief workers have been abducted by "unidentified paramilitary personnel" in the island's east despite an unofficial truce in the area, a pro-rebel charity said.

The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) said Tuesday their employees engaged in tsunami relief work were forced out of their vehicle near a Sri Lankan military checkpoint in Batticaloa on Sunday.

"The TRO would like to appeal to the government, the international community and the Sri Lankan civil society to make every effort to assure the safe return of these persons to their families," the TRO said in a statement.

It came as a splinter group of Tamil Tiger guerrillas declared its own truce ahead of key talks between the Sri Lanka government and the main rebel group aimed at saving a ceasefire.

The breakaway faction which operates in the east decided to stop attacks against the mainstream rebels, the Asian Tribune website said, quoting the renegade leader V. Muralitharan, known as "Colonel" Karuna.

"This unilateral ceasefire is declared to create a conducive environment for the Sri Lankan president to continue with his negotiations to bring about a permanent settlement," Karuna's statement said.

The government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam agreed last Wednesday to meet for the first time in three years to try to save their ceasefire.

At least 153 people have been killed since December, but since Norway secured the deal to hold talks next month in Geneva the level of violence has sharply dipped.

The TRO is registered as a charity in Sri Lanka, but is also seen by the authorities and by several foreign governments as being close to the Tamil Tigers.


Indian Air Force chief arrives in Colombo
Colombo, Jan 30 :

India's Air Chief Marshall S.P. Tyagi Monday arrived in Sri Lanka for a three-day official visit, officials said.

The chief of the Indian Air Force arrived at the Bandaranaike International airport here at 5 p.m. local time, airport officials said.

Tyagi was expected to meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and senior defence officials.

The two countries enjoy good defence relations, particularly in combating illegal weapons smuggling by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) into Sri Lankan waters.

A defence co-operation agreement between the two nations mooted in 2003 is yet to be finalised.


Wife accused of husband's murder
By John Leonidou

A 40-YEAR-old Sri Lankan woman remanded in custody yesterday on suspicion of premeditated murder of her 75-year-old Cypriot husband.

Vergin Rupika Pereira was taken before Judge Angelos David yesterday lunchtime. She was arrested following the discovery on Sunday of her elderly husband, Kypros Michael, whose body was found half burnt in a bathtub at his home in the village of Arediou.
The court heard how a local police officer noticed smoke coming out of the roof of one of the houses; when he knocked on the door, the suspect immediately answered.

'The officer had noticed that she smelt strongly of petrol,' police told the court. 'He asked her if anyone else was in the house and she answered there was nobody in and that her husband was not home.

'But a short time later, she changed her story saying that she believed her husband to be sleeping because she saw his car in the driveway.

'The officer entered the house but did not see anyone in the bedroom. He did, however, notice fire and smoke coming from the bathroom. He noticed that the bathroom also smelt heavily of petrol, while on the left side of the bedroom, a bundle of clothes had been set alight.'

The court heard how the officer immediately alerted an ambulance and the fire services who, after putting out the blaze, noticed a burnt body in the bath.

The results of an autopsy will be available today.

The court heard that the victim had on several occasions reported to the local police that he had been attacked by his wife, and had recently filed for divorce.

'Upon her arrest, the accused told us that she hadn't done anything and that she was innocent,' the investigating officer told the court.

But Pereira later confessed to the crime, according to the CID officer.

Noting the seriousness of the charges, the possibility of the accused escaping abroad or to the occupied areas and the strong facts linking the accused to the crime, Judge David approved the prosecution's notion for an eight-day remand.


S.Lanka Tigers warn kidnappings may hurt peace bid
By Peter Apps
Tue Jan 31, 2:14 AM ET

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels said on Tuesday that the kidnapping of five Tamil aid workers in the island's east could affect next month's peace talks in Switzerland and added the government might be to blame.

The Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), which is considered close to the Tigers, said five employees were taken away by unidentified men on Monday in Welikanda, about 94 miles from Colombo, after their van crossed an army checkpoint.

"It will affect the atmosphere of the peace process," media co-ordinator Daya Master of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam told Reuters from the rebel-held north.

"This will create panic in the people again. These are innocent civilians. It may be the Sri Lankan forces or it may be the Karuna group," he said referring to a faction led by former Tiger commander Karuna Amman which has split from the mainstream.

An army spokesman said he had no knowledge of the incident.

A string of attacks on the military in the minority Tamil dominated north and east tested a 2002 truce almost to destruction, but international monitors said tensions fell after the two sides agreed last week to hold direct negotiations.

Diplomats warn more clashes, killings or disappearances could kill the Geneva talks before they began, with a host of parties from rogue Tigers to the Karuna group to Sinhalese majority nationalists seen keen to provoke war.

SHADOW WAR CEASEFIRE?

The Tigers last week said they would cease military action provided the government did the same and abuses against the Tamil minority stopped. Since then, one militant was killed in an attack widely blamed on the Karuna group, but the rebels said the Geneva talks remained on.

Diplomats say the meeting has a real hope of avoiding a return to the two-decade old conflict that has already killed over 64,000. But the gulf between the two sides remains vast -- with little common ground over demands for a Tamil homeland -- and aid agencies continue to draw up contingency plans for war.

The kidnapping of the aid workers took place on the main road to the east near a stronghold of the former Tiger commander Karuna Amman, who the rebels say is now a government-supported paramilitary who has been fighting them.

"They had just gone through an army checkpoint," said TRO project consultant Arjunan Ethirveerasingam, adding that his organization did not know who was behind the kidnapping.

"A white van forced them off the road. Five of them were long-term TRO employees. They were taken. The other 10 were new TRO recruits and they let them go."

The government denies backing Karuna's group, but truce monitors say they have at least been turning a blind eye to his "shadow war." With no clear role in a peaceful Sri Lanka, diplomats fear he might be trying to sabotage the talks.

On Tuesday, Sri Lankan newspapers published a statement apparently from Karuna saying he was calling a unilateral ceasefire to help the government's peace efforts, but there was no way of immediately confirming its authenticity.