| News |
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| Camp
of contention
They are guarding the entry point to a camp which has turned out to be a thorny issue in the peace process and which the Scandinavian monitors have been unsuccessfully trying to remove over the past 10 weeks. The two guards are supported by another guerrilla armed with a sniper gun and on the lookout for possible encroachers. Even SLMM representatives, who when in Colombo claim they had free access to the camp, were seen being turned away by the guerrillas manning the camp. "This is a sensitive political issue. Each party is trying to gain maximum political advantage and we have a limited mandate," Trinco's SLMM representative Preben Rasmussen told The Sunday Times before getting into his vehicle to head back to Trincomalee. The camp is an important transit point for the guerrillas who move between the eastern province and the northern province. There were reports that about 500 guerrillas had been trained at the camp before crossing over to the Wanni region, early this week. At least 400 more were reportedly undergoing training at the camp, situated amidst a thick forest frequented by elephants. No one is allowed into the camp, except for the guerrillas who are brought in for training before being shifted to the east. "This area belongs to the LTTE and we will not shift from this location," the leader of the camp identified as Illampili told The Sunday Times. The fact that the LTTE had expanded its observation points situated ahead of the camp, was a clear indication that it had no intention of moving from the location. But government officials and military officers based in the area have a different story. A government official who wished to remain anonymous told The Sunday Times that on March 23 a meeting was conducted for farmers under a Tamarind tree where the camp is currently located. "How could
we have had a meeting if the LTTE was occupying that area,"
he asked. Military authorities in the area were first informed about the controversial camp on June 11 when a group of farmers had alerted them about some suspicious movements. Little by little more reports filtered in regarding the movement of goods and weapons. But the hard evidence came when the army visited the location on June 23 and observed the construction of the camp. Since then the Norwegian facilitators have also entered the fray but with little success at getting the camp removed. The Military believes that the LTTE had set up the camp for two reasons. One as a transit point and the other to prevent the Muslims, who had fled the area in 1990, from returning. If they returned the military would be called to establish security posts around the area. The camp is said to be located in an area once known to have been a predominantly Muslim village, Barakathnagar. The settlement was established by a former deputy minister Abdul Majeed who served during the tenure of the late President J.R.Jayewardene. Over 200 Muslim families had been settled there while the adjoining village, Sungankulam was a predominantly Tamil village. However in 1990, due to the intense fighting between guerrillas and the security forces, civilians abandoned the area. Only after the signing of the ceasefire agreement people showed interest in returning. Currently the
military has one of its camp four kilometres away from the LTTE
camp The surrounding
areas of the controversial camp could be cultivated, but civilians
are reluctant to return to their original lands. Further away from
the camp villagers live in abject poverty. We passed one school
that had only one teacher for all the students. No entry
for SLMM As soon as the monitoring mission vehicle driven by a Tamil speaking local co-ordinator headed towards the camp the guerrilla manning the sentry point was seen rushing towards the vehicle in a bid to prevent it from proceeding towards the camp. He was followed by a guerrilla carrying a sniper gun. Immediately the boy got onto his communication set to contact the head of the camp. His response was quick, 'Awangal Nippatu, Nippatu', was the order from within. (stop them, stop them). The SLMM duo waited for nearly 15 minutes in the vehicle and the Scandinavian representative later alighted from the jeep. After failing in their attempts to get a response from within the camp they left the location. Meanwhile SLMM representatives met LTTE's Trincomalee district political wing leader, Tilak on Friday and expressed their dissatisfaction over the LTTE's failure to withdraw from the camp. SLMM spokesperson, Agnes Bragadottir told The Sunday Times that Tilak had told the SLMM representative that the LTTE was not willing to leave the camp. This
is our home, we will not leave How long has
the LTTE been in this area ? But, the Army
and the SLMM say that the LTTE camp was set up after the signing
of the ceasefire agreement. There are also
allegations that you are occupying the lands of the Muslims and
not allowing them to return ? The land belongs to the Muslims and Tamils. Therefore there is no question about people returning to the area. In previous years people have cultivated and reaped their harvest without any problems. Why is the
LTTE not allowing the SLMM to enter the camp There are allegations
that the LTTE is using heavy weapons in the camp. Why hasn't
the LTTE accepted the SLMM ruling that the camp was a violation
of the ceasefire agreement ? |
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