Seaplane will bring Balasingham to Iranamadu tank tomorrow

If his departure, four years ago, was a top secret operation, carefully executed to avoid detection by security authorities during the tenure of the People's Alliance Government, the return to Wanni is with full official blessings of the United Front Government and the international community.

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The LTTE has been keen to keep Dr. Balasingham's travel plans a top secret. Some details, however, appeared early this week only in early editions of Sudar Oli, a Colombo based Tamil daily, a counterpart of Jaffna's widely read Uthayan. It spoke about plans by the LTTE Chief Negotiator to come to the Wanni by a sea plane from the Maldives. On Friday, the Virakesari, a leading Tamil daily, reported that he was arriving in Colombo by a Norwegian sea plane and added that two officials of the Department of Immigration had already travelled to Male to clear Dr. Balasingham and party.

The Sunday Times reported exclusively last week (Situation Report – March 17), that Dr. Balasingham would return to Sri Lanka on March 25. Though the same report said he would arrive in Colombo in the company of Norwegian officials, strong security concerns entertained by the LTTE have led to other plans. Formulated by the LTTE themselves, these were worked out with the help of the Norwegian Government with the concurrence of the Government of Sri Lanka.

Early tomorrow Dr. Balasingham, his Australian born wife Adele and an official of the Norwegian Government, will board a Canadian built De Havilland DHC – 6 Twin Otter sea plane from Male, the capital of the Maldives. After a near three hour journey, they are due to land in the sprawling Iranamadu tank, just south of Kilinochchi.

Dr. Balasingham, wife Adele and one of the Norwegian mediators, Erik Solheim, are due to arrive in Male today from Dubai. Norway's Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Jon Westborg, is due to be on hand in Male today to receive Dr. Balasingham. Thereafter, the envoy is to return to Colombo later tonight with Mr. Solheim. The two are to board a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter tomorrow afternoon to the Wanni for a meeting with Dr. Balasingham.

It is not immediately clear how Dr. Balasingham and party, who are arriving in the Wanni, will go through immigration formalities or whether the Government has decided to waive them. Contrary to Tamil media reports, Controller of Immigration N. Bambarawanage, said yesterday that no officials of his department have travelled to Male to facilitate the visit of Dr. Balasingham and party.

There will be no elaborate arrival ceremonies planned for Dr. Balasingham and his wife in the Wanni. This is both in view of security considerations and due to his ill health. The area surrounding the Iranamadu tank has been for long years shrouded in mystery. This followed reports from State intelligence agencies that a vast stretch of land in the area had been cleared for an improvised runway. Doubts lingered then whether this was for use by a so called Air Wing of the LTTE or to facilitate the landing of military supplies from abroad by light aircraft.

Dr. Balasingham's arrival in the Wanni by sea plane tomorrow has been made possible only due to the efforts of the Norwegian Government. It is learnt to have cleared all formalities with the Governments of the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Dr. Balasingham will stay tonight in a secret location in Male closely protected by commandos of that country's National Security Service (NSS). Maldivian Foreign Minister Fathulla Jameel, declined to reveal details about the LTTE Chief Negotiator's stay in Male and his plans to return to Colombo tomorrow, on grounds of security. However, he told The Sunday Times on the telephone from Male "We are very happy there is some positive movement towards a peaceful settlement of the ethnic conflict. As far as we are concerned, we would like to be helpful in any way possible. 

We are alway sready"

The Sri Lanka Government has granted permission for the sea plane to enter the country's air space.

Air Traffic Controllers at the Bandaranaike International Airport, who respond to the call sign "Colombo Airways," have been told to clear the sea plane once it reaches the country's Flight Information Region (FIR).

Sri Lanka Air Force Air Traffic Control towers in the North and East have also been briefed. Steps have been taken to ensure other aircraft do not operate in the vicinity during the arrival of the sea plane.

The Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (in the Prime Minister's Office) has been carrying out the liaison work in this regard. The services of two retired military officials have been co-opted to co-ordinate security related and other tasks. They are retired Rear Admiral D. A. Dassanayake, a former Navy Chief of Staff as Deputy Director General and retired Wing Commander Raja Wickremesinghe as Chief Liaison Officer.

The sea plane in which Dr. Balasingham is due to arrive, The Sunday Times learnt, is one chartered from a Dutch company operating a fleet of Twin Otter aircraft for tourist purposes in the Maldives. A fleet of 18 De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft form Maldivian Air Taxis. Since most of the islands in the Maldivian archipelago are too small to provide for runways, sea planes became the answer.

Although the Twin Otter aircraft is said to have an endurance of around only four hours, the installation of additional fuel tanks can enable it to fly up to a maximum of 12 hours. Periodically these aircraft are flown from Male to Calgary in Canada, for overhaul by the manufacturers.

A female pilot, who flew one of the twin otters from Calgary to Male, had an interesting account to relate:

"Our first leg is Calgary, Canada to Iqualuit, Canada, with a fuel stop in between. Then we have to rest for the next day's flight over the North Atlantic Ocean. After delaying one day due to a weather system over Iceland, we departed and flew over Greenland just as it was getting dark. After 4.5 hours we landed in Keflavik, Iceland for fuel.

"Airborne again, we flew 6 more hours to arrive in Birmingham, UK. Once there it was time to rest again. After a very comfortable sleep we planned our route through Europe and departed the UK in the morning for a fuel stop in Rome, Italy. It was so interesting talking with all the Air Traffic Controllers from all the different European countries. It is quite amazing how many different aircraft are all in the air at once – flying off to different destinations. After leaving Rome, Italy, the day quickly turned to night and we were happy to land in Iraklion, Greece for some more rest. The next day was going to be a long one.

"The first half of our day was a quick 6 hours, flying over water, the desert and stopping in Luxor, Egypt for more fuel. Then we flew over Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain to land in Muscat, Oman in the morning. It was strange to depart in the late morning, watch the daylight pass, see the moonlight all night, and land again after sunrise. By this time we had flown through 11 time zones in 5 days and I was thankful for the dark curtains in the hotel room.

'Now the last leg of our journey was Muscat, Oman to Male, Maldives. It was 9.5 hours flying over the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. What a beautiful sight to see the lights of the resorts as we flew in from the north. At the end of our journey we had logged 60 hours, travelled half way around the world and used 30,000 pounds of fuel…. and all that without a toilet in the airplane!!!"

In March, 1998, Norway was engaged in diplomatic initiatives as a facilitator when the LTTE asked it to convey a request to the Government of Sri Lanka – to allow Dr. Balasingham, who was in a poor state of health, safe passage to leave Sri Lanka. Though not made public, intense contacts continued between the Government and the LTTE through the Norwegians.

At least one Defence official under the PA Government was to place a string of tough conditions if the Government was to accede to the request. That included a commitment that the LTTE would publicly declare it would call off attacks on VIPs and other targets outside the theatres of conflict in the North and East. No such offer was forthcoming.

The authorities were surprised when Dr. Balasingham made his first public appearance at a Tamil festival in Warren School in the suburbs of London in August, 1998 – the first formal confirmation that he had left Sri Lanka. Later, intelligence sources confirmed that Dr. Balasingham had left in an LTTE ship from the north eastern seas to Singapore and later boarded a flight to London in either March or April, 1998. A western diplomatic mission, based in Singapore, is learnt to have helped him.

A minor snag – the opening of the Kandy-Jaffna highway – almost delayed Dr. Balasingham's expected arrival in Sri Lanka tomorrow. This is on a contention that two of the provisions of the Ceasefire Agreement, which the LTTE contended should have led to the opening of the A-9 Jaffna-Kandy highway, had not been paid heed to. They are:

Provision 1.12 which states: "Parties agree that as of D-day individual combatants shall, notwithstanding the two-month restriction, be permitted, unarmed and in plain clothes, to visit immediate family (i.e. spouses, children, grandparents, parents and siblings) in connection with weddings or funerals. The right to deny entry to specified military areas applies."

The other is provision 1.13 which says "Fifty (50) unarmed LTTE members shall as of D-day + 30, for the purpose of political work, be permitted freedom of movement in the areas of the North and the East dominated by the GOSL. Additional 100 unarmed LTTE members shall be permitted freedom of movement as of D-day + 60. As of D-day + 90, all unarmed LTTE members shall be permitted freedom of movement in the North and the East. The LTTE members shall carry identity papers. The right of the GOSL to deny entry to specified military areas applies".

The "Peace Secretariat" is already armed with passes and have prepared formalities to facilitate matters relating to the above provisions. However, this does not mean the Government, on its part, had failed to enforce provisions in the Ceasefire Agreement to ensure the opening of the highway.

The point was made strongly this week by Minister Milinda Moragoda, who is one of those in the frontlines of the peace process. He cited the last sentence in provision 1.10 in the agreement dealing with the A-9 highway which said "The modalities are to be worked out by the Parties with the assistance of the SLMM (Sri Lanka Monitoring mission). In accordance with this provision, no time limit has been imposed on the opening of the highway.

However, after consultation with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who is personally ensuring that provisions of the Ceasefire Agreement are adhered to and the Government's obligations are fulfilled, Mr. Moragoda has confirmed to Norwegian mediators that the A-9 Jaffna-Kandy highway will be formally opened on April 8. Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Lionel Balagalle, has already been told to ensure all arrangements are in place before this date.

Another significant development connected with the Ceasefire Agreement – the disarming of all armed groups other than the LTTE – begins today. Cadres of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) will hand over their weapons to the Army top brass in Jaffna today. EPDP cadres will also do so today in Mannar, Batticaloa and Ampara. Cadres of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) will also do so today in Vavuniya. Dates for the surrender of weapons in other areas by other groups are to be worked out next week.

The Sunday Times learns that the Government will evolve a scheme to provide temporary financial support to some of the groups, particularly the EPDP, who are surrendering weapons. This follows representations made by some of the groups that they would find it difficult to sustain their cadres most of whom worked closely with the security forces and received payment. These cadres, however, can now join the security forces if they wish to serve in areas outside the North and East.

In another significant move this week, the Government handed over to the LTTE, through Norwegian facilitators, the mining charts of the Sri Lanka Army. These charts give details of the mined areas, particularly those close to the A-9 highway.

A Washington based NGO, Refugees International, has declared that the Government's plan to re-settle internally displaced persons has been hit by two hurdles – landmines and post conflict resolution.

A team from RI headed by one time Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Colombo, Edward Marks, in a report prepared after a visit to Colombo last month, says :

"A prime impediment to this population movement is the existence of extensively mined areas where the population will be returning, especially the Wanni and Kilinochchi regions, and the Jaffna Peninsula. Existing de-mining capability in the country is inadequate to achieve the scale of de-mining required in the requisite time. UNDP and GOSL (Government of Sri Lanka) are discussing a comprehensive de-mining plan. However, there is a conceptual gulf between the UN experts and the GOSL. The UN recommends a four-year program designed to meet international humanitarian standards, while the GOSL believes that a crash program, with admittedly lower standards of mine management, is necessary to expedite the peace process by enabling large numbers of IDPs to resettle quickly.

"The GOSL's resettlement plan calls for extensive post-conflict reconstruction assistance to the relocating populace, including providing direct assistance to individuals (money for rebuilding homes, etc.) and rehabilitating infrastructure (schools, clinics, etc.). However, GOSL officials report that they don't have funds for this reconstruction. The current sources of economic assistance for the GOSL are primarily the Japanese government and UN aid programs.

"Current UN plans for support to the GOSL are covered under the Sri Lanka United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), issued in January of 2001. This well-designed program focuses on humanitarian assistance, though it does contain a section entitled "Anticipating Post-Conflict Challenges and Opportunities." It now risks being overtaken by events, as post-conflict reconstruction is now the government's priority, and will require revision with respect to the priority given to post-conflict reconstruction and the timing and scale of such assistance".

With Dr. Balasingham's arrival in Sri Lanka, the Norwegian mediators are to embark on measures to pave the way for peace talks. They will focus particularly on two LTTE demands – de-proscription and the establishment of an interim administration. Official sources say the Government would temporarily de-proscribe the LTTE. They point out that the United National Front's resounding victory at the local government elections, which was an endorsement of the peace initiatives, made the task easier. Attention was also being focused on modalities for an interim administration, these sources added.

It is now almost certain that the venue for peace talks would be the Thai capital of Bangkok. 

The suggestion to make it the venue had come originally from the LTTE. From the outset, though not under consideration at any time, the LTTE has not been in favour of Male being the venue in view of the non-availability of advanced medical facilities in the unlikely event of Dr. Balasingham requiring attention. Whilst peace initiatives would now focus on the upcoming talks, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to undertake an important overseas tour next week.