News / World
Sri Lanka Waives Ceasefire with Tamil Tigers
“If full-scale war is thrust upon us, we will face it and the Sri Lankan armed forces will face the same fate that they have faced in 1997/1998.” says Tigers’ peace secretariat head, S. Puleedevan. The Tigers agreed to follow the ceasefire, but mounted large scale counter-offensives if Sri Lanka attempted to take the de facto state.
The fate faced in 1997/1998 referenced a particularly bloody time of the 25 year war.
Upset by the end of the ceasefire, political leader, B. Nadesan, for the Tigers has written to the Foreign Minister of Norway to request the continuance of mediation from the country. Nadesan said, “We are shocked and disappointed that the government of Sri Lanka has unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire.”
The ceasefire will end January 16, and the Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) must leave. “We are calling on Norway to remain as facilitator, and have told the SLMM we are ready to implement all the provisions of the ceasefire agreement, line by line.” The SLMM has given up keeping track of each truce violation as the truce was violated numerous times.
The Tigers have been the blame for several ambushes, bombings and assassinations in an attempt to gain new land for a separate state north and east of the island. Nordic truce monitors report that the group has “violated the terms of the ceasefire thousands of times” (Reuters)”
When asked if there would be any more ceasefire violations, Puleedevan responded saying “We are not saying that. What we are saying is we tried our best to implement (the truce)…The Sri Lankan government, the defense secretary, the President…these people are all beating the war drums and saying we will go for a full-scale war, so that’s why we’ve informed the international community: Please understand the mindset…If the Sri Lankan government fails to respect the international community’s request (to halt fighting) and if they go for full-scale war, then the LTTE also will face it.”
Sri Lankan government, also accuse of ceasefire violations, has made a vow to eliminate the Tigers. Many are afraid this will turn into another battle increasing the already staggering death toll of 70,000 people since 1983.
