26th December 1999

More in the millennium

With the war escalating, the new year looks grim

Like the military revers als in the Wanni, it happened as predicted.

An LTTE suicide bomber made an attempt to assassinate President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. It did not succeed. Not because all the security measures to protect the nation's President were in place.

Shielding her from instant death was the heavy armour in her bullet proof car. Yet, she received injuries including one in the eye and required hospitalization. Now, she is undergoing specialised treatment in London.

The fact that President Kumaratunga was a prime target in the run-up to the Presidential elections was a public secret. There were repeated intelligence warnings.

This is how Situation Report of December 12, 1999, described it:

"...With only 16 more days to go for the Presidential elections, an equally worrisome scenario has begun to emerge in the political arena. That is the security threats posed by the LTTE not only to the two principal contestants – President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe – but also to other key personalities in the People's Alliance and the United National Party.

"In the past few weeks, the Directorate of Internal Intelligence (DII), which has been closely monitoring security related matters concerning the polls have been sounding strong notes of caution.

"High on the list, they have warned, is President Kumaratunga. In his "Heroes Day" speech, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, has described her rule as the "worst form of tyranny" ever suffered by the Tamils – remarks which underscore the LTTE's deep anger towards her. Security considerations in the wake of these threats have forced her to curtail her public appearances during the ongoing election campaign. Yet, she has defied security advice in some instances to be at important events.

"Defence authorities have credible evidence that the LTTE leadership has detailed death squads for political assassinations. Some are said to have infiltrated the city with unidentified newer weapons to ensure their missions do not fail….."

The credible evidence, it can now be revealed, included warnings from the external intelligence arm of a friendly country. They sent a written warning to the head of a local intelligence arm. The latter not only conveyed it to his superior but also to the agencies directly concerned with protecting the President.

Were these warnings ignored? Or, if they were taken seriously, why were protective measures not in place? The ongoing censorship prevents The Sunday Times from revealing many matters in this regard which are of utmost public concern.

Even if there were no intelligence warnings, the sequence of events at the very last Presidential elections in November, 1994, could have served as a warning. In that instance, UNP Presidential candidate and some senior party stalwarts were killed. The modus operandi was the same. A female suicide bomber who was seated just behind the front rows exploded herself.

On that occasion, then Director, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Punya de Silva, flew to London with the severed head of the suicide killer for laboratory tests. By a strange quirk of fate, this time, Mr de Silva himself was injured by the Town Hall explosion. So were two other DIGs – Victor Perera, until last week DIG in charge of the Presidential Security Division (PSD) and Gamini Randeni, DIG (Ranges).

A two pronged investigation by two separate teams have got under way. One is to determine the security lapses, how they occurred, who was responsible and measures necessary to prevent such occurrences. Three DIGs are responsible for this probe. They are Indra de Silva, Jayatissa Herat and Lionel Karunasena.

Another probe headed by Keerthi Gajanayake, Director, CID, is conducting a more detailed Police inquiry into the incident. His hand-picked CID team was joined this week by two senior officers of the Directorate of Internal Intelligence.

From the scene of the incident, the team has recovered a cyanide phial, the type used by Tiger guerrillas. It is not clear whether this phial belonged to the suicide bomber. This is because suicide bombers are known to bite the phial and consume the deadly poison (cyanide) inside almost at the same time as they explode themselves. The idea is to ensure they are not captured if the explosive device does not trigger off successfully.

Thirty two persons were killed and more than 111 wounded. Among the dead were T.N.De Silva, DIG Colombo, three policemen from the Presidential Security Division, an Army Captain and two members of the Buddhist clergy.

Police say that the suicide killer had nearly four kilograms of explosives strapped to the middle part of her body.

The CID team is learnt to be addressing its mind to a number of aspects. That included reports that a Government politician and the son of a Cabinet Minister arrived at the venue separately with their own groups of supporters and claim that they did not want their men checked.

Even if these claims were correct, PA leaders have argued, those concerned with security were not bound to accede to those demands. Another important aspect is how the female suicide bomber gained access to the very front of the stage. Was any one related to security that day smuggle her in? Was this done for any financial consideration? This was among many aspects now being gone into.

Senior security and intelligence officials have obtained substantial video footage from media and others who covered the PA rally at the Town Hall grounds on December 18. They are being played and re-played in a bid to identify the specific lapses in the provision of personal protection of the President. It is likely that expert foreign assistance will be sought to rectify these lapses.

Contrary to claims last week, the attack on the UNP rally at Jaela, almost around the same time as the explosion at Town Hall Grounds, was also carried out by a suicide bomber. He has been identified as a male. His hands and a head were found on top of the zinc sheet roof that covered the stage from where speakers addressed the meeting.

Investigations have revealed that the target in this incident was former Army Chief of Staff, Major General Lakshman (Lucky) Algama. Besides him, eleven others were killed in the incident. The suspected suicide bomber, according to some eye witness accounts, had moved in the direction of Maj. Gen. Algama and triggered off the explosion.

But some senior members of the United National Party refused to believe reports that attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. They allege it was a grenade attack and was not the handiwork of the LTTE – a claim which intelligence sources insist is not correct.

In this instance too the male suicide bomber had strapped nearly four kilograms of explosives to the middle part of his body. Even when he was serving, General Algama was an LTTE target.

Pancha Raman, an LTTE suspect who was arrested by the Bambalapitiya Police in January this year, said in a statement to the CDB that he and a female cadre identified as Puvaneswari had reconnoitred the house of General Algama in 1996, at the time General Algama lived in Bambalapitiya. But efforts to assassinate Maj.General Algama then had failed.

Why exactly the LTTE placed Maj. Gen. Algama as a high profile target now is not clear. However, these sources believe they wanted to "eliminate a hard line, anti-LTTE campaigner should Ranil Wickremesinghe have won the Presidential election."

In TV and public appearances Maj. Gen. Algama has spoken out in detail about how he contained the LTTE during his tenure as General Officer Commanding (GOC) in the east.

The Ja-ela incident is also being probed by a three member Police team – P.K.C. Perera (DIG), Camillus Abeygunawardena (DIG) and F.R. Alles (SSP).

The funeral of Maj. Gen. Algama took place with full military honours at the General Cemetery, Kanatte, on Thursday. Senior serving and retired military officials were among those present.

With the Presidential elections now over, the attention of the security establishment has once again focused on the ongoing separatist war. Both the Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Srilal Weerasooriya and Navy Commander, Vice Admiral Cecil Tissera, flew on Thursday to Jaffna to make a personal assessment of the prevailing ground situation.

For well over two weeks, bitter fighting has been raging between the Tiger guerrillas and the security forces in the Elephant Pass sector. Yesterday Tiger cadres mounted fresh attacks at Elephant Pass, this came barely 24 hours after troops launched a search and clear operation at Iyakatchchi.

Tiger cadres have also been making several abortive attempts to infiltrate the Jaffna peninsula by landing by boat in Thanankilappu. This is by crossing the Jaffna lagoon. They are using their base in Pooneryn as the staging area for these attacks.

As reported in these columns last week, security forces have successfully resisted LTTE attempts to secure the entire Elephant Pass sector ahead of the Presidential elections during their "Operation Ceaseless Waves 3" (Oyatha Alaikal). Directing these counter offensives was the Security Forces Commander, Jaffna, Major General Sarath Munasinghe. He relinquishes his Army career this week. Succeeding him is Major General Nihal Jayakody, who is just back in Sri Lanka after an year long stint at the National Defence College in New Delhi.

Military officials believe the LTTE will continue to increase their pressure on the Elephant Pass sector in the coming weeks, a prelude to a move to destabilise the Jaffna peninsula. They said the troops were prepared to meet the threat.

As reported in these columns last week, on December 17 troops fighting pitched battles in the Elephant Pass/Paranthan sector fell back to more secure positions as Tiger guerrillas moved into Paranthan junction, town and other areas. From early this week, troop positions in these areas have come under heavy mortar fire. Troops have been able to thwart any further Tiger guerrilla advance but sporadic fighting continues.

With the new millennium just five days away, one aspect seems certain. The on-going separatist war will continue into the next century and the nation will have to bear another staggering defence budget in the Year 2000.

The Fifth Column

Editorial/ Opinion Contents