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Sandagiri
told to step down
- President pushes for peace while also preparing
for any war
- How CBK helped Prabha's daughter leave the
country
Six months into office, the dilemma for President
Mahinda Rajapaksa is to prepare both for war and for peace, both
legacies that he inherited.
In preparing for war, he has now been compelled
to bring the security forces and police into a much greater level
of preparedness. That is in the light of the ongoing low-intensity
Eelam War IV which the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has
already launched. It is taking the lives of at least three security
forces personnel and police per day. Neither the ban this week on
them by the European Union nor the condemnation on them (together
with the strictures on the Government) has been able to halt the
rising trend.
Last Wednesday, at the crack of dawn, Tiger guerrillas
at the Nagerkovil defences fired Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs).
The Tamilnet web site said "the LTTE has advanced a significant
distance towards the SLA's FDL and, SLA has been forced to move
back from their FDLs." It added "defence sources in Jaffna,
however, said that SLA soldiers had beaten back the limited advance
by Liberation Tigers." The same morning the clandestine Voice
of Tigers also broadcast a report on the same lines.
However, Major General Sanath Karunaratne, General
Officer Commanding (GOC) the Army's 55 Division, told Army Headquarters
no such thing happened. Only five or six rounds of RPGs have been
fired. According to reports from Muhamalai, Maj. Gen. Karunaratne
had asked the Brigade Commander in whose area the RPG fire arrived.
His reply was that his troops had used a different weapon to retaliate.
Asked to explain what it was, he said his troops had hooted at the
guerrillas after the RPG fire had ended. In another incident in
Odiyamadu, near Welikanda (in the Polonnaruwa district), guerrillas
shot 12 Sinhala civilian workers after tying their hands behind
their back. Two who were injured survived to tell the gory account.
Some of the military preparations cannot be spelt
out for obvious security reasons except to say such measures will
enhance the capability of the security forces and police. Others
are too well known. Among them is the ongoing recruitment drive,
intense preparations to protect Sinhala villages that are on the
border that separates Tiger guerrilla dominated areas, enhanced
protection for VIPs who are targeted, vital installations and a
security blanket in the City of Colombo, the immediate suburbs in
addition to key towns.
Whilst this is under way, the Government's attention
has now been focused on the hierarchy of the security establishment.
Some major changes are in the offing. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
Admiral Daya Sandagiri, who is facing a Presidential Commission
of Inquiry on charges of bribery and corruption, has been told to
step down from his post. This means he will have no active role
in the day to day operations of the security forces and the police.
As CDS, he is the highest ranking official in uniform in Sri Lanka's
security establishment. Since the Government is of the view that
he has not been found guilty on any grounds yet, he is to be given
another job for the time being.
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Admiral Sandagiri is to be made an Advisor to the
Ministry of Defence. A proposal to appoint him to this post is now
before the Cabinet. It is likely to be taken up next Wednesday.
Once this is done, Admiral Sandagiri will switch roles. An earlier
move to send him as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Pakistan met
with protests. Taking over as Chief of Defence Staff will be Air
Marshal Donald Perera, Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
He is expected to be promoted to the rank of Air Chief Marshal before
he assumes office as CDS. Air Marshal Perera assumed office as Commander
on July 16, 2002 when he was promoted to the current rank. He was
due to retire on November 11, 2005 upon reaching 55 years but was
granted an extended term.
Succeeding him as Commander of the SLAF will be
veteran flyer Air Vice Marshal Roshan Gunathilake. He has had a
distinguished record in the role played by Sri Lanka Air Force in
the near two decades of separatist war. He is an accomplished pilot
for helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. He was Commanding Officer
of the Maritime Squadron but specialised later in helicopters.
As repeatedly revealed in these columns, the level
of preparedness of the security forces and police tasked with counter
terrorism work dropped drastically after the Ceasefire Agreement
(CFA) of February 22, 2002. So much so, then President Chandrika
Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was bitterly critical of the then United
National Front Government. In November 2003, she took over the Defence
(together with Mass Communication and Interior) portfolios from
the cabinet of then Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe. However,
as pointed out earlier, little or nothing was done to improve the
situation.
The Sunday Times is able to reveal today that
former President Kumaratunga helped 19-year-old daughter of LTTE
leader Velupillai Prabhakaran to travel abroad for education. Last
year, she personally intervened to obtain an international passport
for her. In addition she sent her a greeting card expressing best
wishes. Mr. Prabhakaran's daughter Dwarka is now a medical student
in a University in Europe. As a prelude to this, she is now undergoing
a two year course in the English Language.
In the pursuit of peace, President Rajapaksa's
latest effort is last Friday's All-Party Conference. He wants political
parties in the south to formulate a framework of proposals for devolution
of power. He is in the process of naming an Advisory Board comprising
academics, intellectuals, experts in the field of law and constitutional
affairs to work concurrently with them.
The main thrust of the Sri Lanka delegation during
Thursday and Friday's talks in Oslo would be to explain the Government's
peace efforts and commitment to the CFA. Hence, it wants an enhanced
role for the SLMM to curb violence. The Government's team is headed
by the Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat, Dr Palitha Kohona.
President Rajapaksa said on Friday that there was now a "window
of opportunity" made available to Sri Lanka to seek a solution
to the ethnic conflict and achieve a lasting peace.
This is from the listing of the LTTE as a "terrorist
organisation" by the 25 member European Union; the statement
of the Donor Co-chairs on Sri Lanka's peace process, and the new
awareness about the LTTE among the international community. The
envisaged solution should as far as possible be a home grown one
that suits the needs of the country, he said.
An LTTE delegation is travelling to Oslo tomorrow.
But they seem to have a different focus. In the wake of the EU ban,
the statement of the Donor Co-chairs, the LTTE wants to state its
position vis a vis both the CFA and the role of the Scandinavian
monitors. According to delegation leader and head of LTTE Politcal
Wing, S.P.Thamilselvan the LTTE wants the Norwegian peace facilitators
to disarm paramilitary groups, particularly the Karuna faction,
a commitment which they say, was made by the Government during the
first round of talks in Geneva in February this year. But the Government
continues to insist that there is no link with the Karuna faction.
The LTTE also wants to raise issue over the use of the sea after
the SLMM ruling that it was the sovereign right of only the Government
and no non-state actors had any role.
A six-member LTTE delegation led by Mr. Thamilselvan
is due to pass through Colombo tomorrow. They will be airlifted
from Kilinochchi to Colombo by an Air Force helicopter. In view
of the European Union ban, their flight has been routed through
Dubai and Zurich to Oslo. The Government has made clear to authorities
at the Bandaranaike International Airport that the delegation members
should be treated as normal passengers and are not entitled to diplomatic
or VIP privileges. This means the normal Customs formalities will
apply on them. However, staff there has been told to take all steps
to ensure their security and that the delegation members are handled
with courtesy.
In the light of the talks in Oslo next week, The
Sunday Times posed a series of questions to LTTE chief peace negotiator
Anton Balasingham and breakaway group leader Karuna alias Vinayagamoorthy
Muralitharan, now leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal
(TMVP). The answers appear in box stories on this page.
The Oslo talks next week are distinctly not a
part of peace talks. It is to focus only on the role of the CFA
and SLMM monitors in the light of the ban on the LTTE by the European
Union. But it is a platform for both the Government and the LTTE
to re-iterate their positions once more. But on the ground, quite
clearly, the low-intensity Eelam War IV continues. The critical
question therefore is what next? The coming weeks will tell.
EU
ban harsh and one-sided: Bala |
- 'But LTTE will
not pull out of peace process'
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The Sunday Times:
How does the LTTE view the EU ban imposed last Monday.
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| Anton Balasingham |
Mr. Anton Balasingham:
The LTTE is deeply disappointed. It has its implications
for international recognition of our people's legitimate struggle
for self-determination.
I think the European Union ban is extremely harsh, unfair,
untimely and one-sided, unlike the Donor Co-chairs declaration,
which is a well-crafted, well balanced statement censoring
both the parties for the escalation of violence.
In a conflict situation where both the principal parties
or protagonists are equally blamed for misconduct and serious
breaches of truce obligations, penalising one party harshly
while condoning the other with gentle admonitions (EU Presidency
calling on the GoSL to curb violence in government controlled
areas) is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The ban is biased
towards the state actor and therefore one-sided.
In the LTTE's view the European proscription will have a
negative impact on the legitimate political struggle of an
oppressed people. This action is not limited in its scope
to blacklist the LTTE as a "terrorist organisation".
Rather, it will tarnish the Tamil political struggle as a
phenomenon of terrorism, severely undermining the moral validity
of the political movement. In this anti-terrorist age, when
all forms of violent struggles against state oppression and
injustice, irrespective of their political context and historical
background, are conflated into a singular phenomenon of terror,
it has become extremely difficult for us to convince the world
of the legitimacy of our freedom struggle, where as Sri Lanka,
as a state actor, utilising the current trends of the global
war against terror, can easily condemn their opponents, who
violently resist state repression, as terrorists.
In our view the ban will not achieve its intended objective
of curtailing the sympathy and support of the European Tamil
Diaspora for the Tamil Tigers and their cause. On the contrary,
this penalising act, that has deeply offended the expatriate
Tamils, will kindle the spirit of patriotism and heighten
the passionate support for the Tiger movement, as evidenced
in the mass rallies staged world wide, expressing solidarity
with the organisation.
It is generally assumed that international proscriptions
will "encourage" the penalised organisations to
pursue the road maps and guidelines prescribed by the international
actors. I think it is a misguided strategy. Such punitive
measures may have a counter-productive effect. Discredited,
humiliated and globally isolated by world governments, the
LTTE leadership may stiffen its attitude and adopt a singular,
individualistic approach, as if it is freed from the constraints
of international norms and pressures. In such an eventuality
it is those proscribing international actors who may stand
to lose their moral and political authority to exert influence
on the proscribed entity and hence, their active, determinate
role in the peace process will be severely diminished.
I think the European proscription is ill-timed and premature.
In spite of allegations of serious violations of the truce,
the LTTE has been reiterating its commitment to the peace
process. It has not abandoned the CFA, nor has it withdrawn
from the peace talks. Geneva talks were delayed by the acts
of bad faith of the government, which failed to contain the
criminal violence of the paramilitaries and made trivial issues
into serious problems Therefore; the LTTE does not deserve
such harsh punishment for the stalemate in the peace talks.
I cannot understand why the European Union rushed to proscribe
the LTTE before allowing time and space for the intervention
of the co-chairs.
TST:
What impact will it have on the peace process? Does this
mean the end of the Ceasefire Agreement?
Mr. Balasingham:
The European Union proscription will certainly have a negative
impact on the peace process. The LTTE and the Government of
Sri Lanka entered into the Ceasefire Agreement on the basis
of strategic equilibrium and the peace negotiations resumed
between the parties on the basis of parity and equal status.
These symmetrical relations between negotiating parties (between
a state and a liberation movement) will be seriously impaired
when international governments who are active supporters and
custodians of the peace process, decide to penalise one party
as a terrorist outfit. This one-sided state biased action
will certainly deepen asymmetrical relations between the protagonists
to the advantage of the state actor, creating a serious obstacle
to productive engagement.
The European ban will encourage the hard-line nationalist
elements aligned to Rajapaksa Government to adopt a hard-line
position on the Tamil question and embolden them to seek the
military option to crush the LTTE. This situation might create
conditions for the current conflict to escalate into an all-out
war.
In so far as the future of the CFA is concerned, the LTTE
leadership will continue to insist on the effective implementation
of the truce agreement. The only way to avoid the country
sliding into the abyss of an ethnic war is to protect and
preserve the CFA and to implement the truce in word and spirit.
TST:
In the light of the above developments does the LTTE want
to continue the peace dialogue with the government?
Mr. Balasingham:
The LTTE is seriously committed to the peace process and
a negotiated political settlement. We will not abandon the
peace dialogue. The government has to create congenial conditions
for peace negotiations by implementing the resolutions adopted
at the Geneva talks.
TST:
Will the LTTE take part in the Oslo meeting on June 8 and
9.
Mr. Balasingham:
The LTTE will take part in the discussions in Oslo, which
will primarily focus on the function, the safety and security
of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.
TST:
What is the future of Scandinavian monitors from EU countries?
Will the LTTE continue to accept them?
Mr. Balasingham:
The monitors from EU countries represent the SLMM not their
individual countries. Anyhow this issue will be discussed
at the Oslo meeting. |
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war will be Prabha's Waterloo: Karuna |
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The Sunday Times:
President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently told
Norway's Minister of International Development who wanted
the TMVP disbanded that he should speak with Karuna. Your
comments.
Karuna alias Vinayagamoorthy
Muralitharan:
As I have re-iterated several times
previously, the TMVP is not a paramilitary group as defined
in the CFA. We are a break-away faction of the LTTE and have
every right to function. The Norwegians have to deal with
us on the same footing as the LTTE and it will be foolish
of them to try to wish us away. We have indicated our desire
to enter into discussions to the Norwegian government already
and are awaiting their response. President Rajapaksa has no
contact or influence on us and cannot be asked to play the
role demanded of him by the LTTE. Norway has to cease being
a mouth piece of the LTTE and appraise the current situation
in Sri Lanka realistically and, act independently and objectively.
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| Karuna alias Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan |
TST:
The Donor Co-chairs have in a statement declared
that the Government should stop the violence by the Karuna
faction? What is your response?
Karuna:
Are the Donor co-chairs expecting the GOSL
to start a new war on the Eastern front by trying to stop
us from resisting the LTTE? We are opposed to the ways of
the LTTE and want the peace talks to be taken forward seriously
with the interests of the Tamils and Sri Lanka at heart. We
carry arms to defend ourselves from the LTTE and to pre-empt
attacks on us. The Donor Co-chairs should understand we were
part of the LTTE when the ceasefire was signed and hence consider
ourselves a party to this agreement. We are an important Tamil
liberation movement in Sri Lanka and have to be dealt with
on an equal footing to the LTTE by the Co-chairs. Once again
as we are not a terrorist group, the Donor co-chairs should
engage with us to take the peace process forward.
TST:
What are your comments on the June 8 and
9 talks in Oslo to disucuss the role of SLMM monitors in the
wake of the European Union ban? Do you think any purpose would
be served by the presence of the LTTE? They have sought "diplomatic"
status from the Government when their delegation passes through
Colombo. What do you say to this?
Karuna:
The talks on the SLMM is a sheer waste of
time and is an attempt by the Norwegians to restore some credibility
to the LTTE, in an environment where they have been branded
terrorists by the world -at-large and are being marginalized.
The LTTE has proven time and again that they do not respect
the agreements they enter into. In these circumstances, any
talks with the LTTE on any subject are largely a waste of
time.
Why cannot the proposed talks be held in
Sri Lanka, in the "no-mans" zone at the so-called
border between the GOSL and LTTE controlled areas or even
in Katchchativu? The LTTE is trying to hoodwink the Tamil
Diaspora by once again creating the illusion that they are
yet players on the international scene.
The' Diplomatic' status sought by
the LTTE is a big joke and once again they are trying to force
symbolic gestures from the GOSL with the assistance of the
Norwegians, to make the Diaspora believe that they are an
equal partner to the GOSL in these talks and that they are
a government-in-waiting. This is a desperate cry of a movement
in rapid decline!]
TST:
Can you please comment on the EU ban
on the LTTE?
Karuna:
While welcoming the ban, we shall await its
enforcement and the outcome. Germany has already shown the
will to act by arresting the LTTE money smugglers. EU should
be also aware that the restrictions on collecting funds from
the Diaspora and engaging in what was until now 'legitimate'
businesses will make the LTTE pursue its illegitimate activities
like people smuggling, money laundering, credit card fraud
and drug smuggling with greater vigour. It can also be expected
that the LTTE will try to cash in on its expertise in terrorism
by engaging with other terrorist groups around the world.
The EU should engage in the peace process
more actively by giving legitimacy and voice to the democratic
forces among the Tamils, and convincing the Sri Lankan government
to substantially devolve power to the North and East.
TST:
The LTTE, we are told, is going to attend
the Oslo talks next week only to issue an ultimatum to the
Government to disband the Karuna faction if they are to come
to peace talks. What is your response?
Karuna:
The TMVP cannot be disbanded by any
one. We are a movement of the people and have become the voice
of the Tamils terrorized by the LTTE. The LTTE's parnoia with
regard to the TMVP should be treated while its delegates are
in Oslo! The LTTE is only finding
excuses to avoid engaging in substantive talks. We will disband
ourselves militarily, when a permanent solution to the Tamil
problem is implemented and not at the dictates of the LTTE
or its cohorts.
TST:
Will the TMVP hold talks with Norwegian facilitators?
If so what issues do they want to discuss with them.
Karuna:
Yes. Substantive issues leading to
extensive devolution of power to the North and East in Sri
Lanka.
TST:
What effect will the EU ban have on
the LTTE internationally?
Karuna:
This is a very significant and historically
critical move that has exposed the LTTE for what it truly
is. It will open the eyes of the Tamil Diaspora to the monster
the LTTE has evolved into. The logical sequel has to be that
the leaders of the LTTE be indicted in the International Tribunal
for war Crimes. This can be only circumvented if the LTTE
mends its ways and becomes a true liberation movement with
a clear political and moral philosophy.
TST:
Do you believe the LTTE has already begun
Eelam War IV? If so, what do you think their motives are?
Are they serious about peace?
Karuna:
They were never serious about peace. I can
vouch for the fact that Pirabhaharan only wanted a fine interlude
from active war to build up his forces and, provide education
and safety for his and other LTTE leaders' children. He wanted
a 'Final' war to achieve his Eelam, while hiding in his bunker.
Unfortunately things have started going wrong for the LTTE
and Pirabhaharan. What the future holds, because of the substantial
international involvement, is to be seen.
Eelam war IV, if started, will be the Waterloo for the LTTE.
We have to find Pirabhaharan his Elba, if he survives such
a war! Unfortunately, the Tamils are going to be the victims
of the LTTE misadventures. I am quite sad when I think about
this. I hope the LTTE will avoid this idiocy.
TST:
SLMM (head Maj. Gen. retd. Ulf Henriccson)
has offered to mediate between LTTE and your group. What do
you say to this? How do you see the Norwegian and the SLMM
role?
Karuna:
There is no need to mediate between us and
the LTTE. SLMM has to play its role more effectively and should
be provided the resources to do so. Its mandate has to be
also strengthened. SLMM can talk to us on issues relating
to the CFA as we consider ourselves a partner to it. Pirabhaharan
signed this agreement when we were a part of the LTTE and
I was a key leader in it. I consider the CFA was signed on
behalf of my movement as well, as I fully subscribe to its
objectives and intents. Although we are a breakaway faction
now, we intend to uphold and abide by the CFA.
I am somewhat disappointed with Norway. The SLMM is trying
to do its best under the circumstances. Norway is dragging
its feet and in the process prolonging the agony of the Tamils,
by continuing with the charade that the LTTE is the sole representative
of the Tamils and has to be molly-coddled. We have reached
out to the Norwegians through the emerging democratic forces
in the Diaspora, but unfortunately the response is yet awaited.
It is likely the Norwegians as usual are bending to LTTE pressures
in the wild hope that the LTTE can be appeased.
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