Sri Lanka Strongly Urges Britain to Ban Tamil Rebels

As Britain's new anti-terrirosim act is to be in force shortly, the Sri Lankan government has given a stern warning pressing its former colonial ruler to proscribe the Tamil Tiger rebels on their soil under the law.

Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said in an interview last week with the official Sunday Observer that the failure of the British government to act against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would be "an unfriendly act that would impose a considerable strain on our relations."

"The LTTE's record of terror is long and horrible. In the light of this record, the people of Sri Lanka will simply never be able to understand the failure on the part of the British government to proscribe the LTTE, now that it has the power to do so," he said in what appeared to be the strongest signal the country has ever sent to Britain on the matter.

The minister's remarks came after reports that the British High Commission here was beginning to ascertain the views of minority Tamil parties on banning the LTTE, which has been fighting for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils in the north and east of the island country since 1983.

Kadirgamar pointed out that his country started pressuring London to act against LTTE activities on their soil as early as in 1995 when the ruling People's Alliance came to power.

The British Parliament adopted a new anti-terrorism act in July last year which will probably include the LTTE rebels in the country in its list due to the constant request by the Sri Lankan government.

The United States and India, Sri Lanka's closest neighbor, have already banned the LTTE rebels. India has required recently for the extradition of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran who was accused of masterminding the murder of its former Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi in 1991.

In addition to dozens of offices in various countries in the world, the LTTE has an International Secretariat in London which regularly issues news bulletins and carries out propaganda campaign there against the government.

Wary of the possible ban of LTTE by Britain, the theoretician and political advisor of LTTE, Anton Balasingham, did not admit that the LTTE is a terrorist organization and asked Britain not to ban it without a full understanding of its implications.

Balasingham said via the LTTE-owned English language newspaper Tamil Guardian that a decision to proscribe the LTTE would seriously undermine the current peace process under faciliatation of Norway in the country since it would erode the status of neutrality of Britain and prevent it from playing any significant role in resolving the long-running ethnic conflict.

Norway has been acting as a facilitator trying to bring the two sides to the negotiating table in the past two years. Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim will be here this week in a fresh effort to continue brokering peace in the country following his vain attempt during his two-day visit here last week.

In the LTTE's 18-year attempts for independence, its formidable suicide bombers have killed a number of high ranking government officials including former President Premardasa and a minister of the present government. President Kumaratunga lost her vision in the right eye when a woman suicide bomber blasted herself in presidential elections in 1999.

The government hopes that the closure of the LTTE London Office will further weaken the rebels diplomatically and with the military setback in the battlefield the rebels will finally be forced to enter talks with the government.

The LTTE's one-month unilateral ceasefire will expire on Wednesday and Balashingham who lives in London has warned that there will be an all-out war if the government does not reciprocate their truce offer. The military, however, said that no matter the LTTE extends the ceasefire or launch fresh attacks against the government when their unilateral ceasefire ends this week the army will go ahead with its operations in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Military spokesman Sanath Karunaratne has dismissed the LTTE's ceasefire as "bogus and meaningless," as they have violated their self-imposed truce more than 50 times since they announced it on Christmas Eve last year.

The government stands firm against the LTTE rebels. Since the beginning of the new year the government has launched two massive attacks against LTTE rebels in the north and retaken a 10- kilometer piece of rebel-held land but the strategic Elephant Pass which lost to the rebels last April is still under their control.






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