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LTTE continues low-intensity war
Beyond the encampments of the armed forces and police, further north of Welikanda in the Polonnaruwa district, lay a cluster of camps of the military arm of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) or the Karuna faction. Last Sunday Tiger guerrillas mounted a pre-dawn attack on two of them, code named Delta One, Delta Two and an adjoining outpost. By dawn ten Karuna faction cadres lay dead. The guerrillas seized a cache of arms and ammunition. Eight others who were injured were rushed to Welikanda hospital. Beginning next (Monday) morning, Karuna's staunch lieutenant in the East, Iniya Bharati, was deluged with radio messages. "How do you like our attack? You don't know how to kill," chided Uma Ram, a one time comrade-in-arms and now arch enemy. Bharati, notorious for beheading his foes, went "underground" to avoid the stream of abusive messages. This week, Nitharsanam, a website believed to be run by the intelligence boss of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), T. Shivashankar, better known as Pottu Amman, sought information on the whereabouts of Bharati. It was only in December, last year; Nitharsanam posted a story, an obituary of sorts, on the death of Bharati. It said that he was killed when Tiger guerrillas attacked a group loyal to renegade LTTE eastern leader, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna. It was in Pallamadu jungles in the Ampara district. With wounds on his leg and stomach he had slipped away. After treatment in a hospital, he had returned to his base weeks later. The LTTE admitted its military wing leader for Batticaloa Somasekeran Sivananthan alias Banu had planned and executed the attack. Though the LTTE said it had captured five Karuna faction cadres, the latter claimed only three of its members were missing. State intelligence services have learnt that the captured have been moved to the Wanni for further interrogation. Last Sunday's incident, officially disclosed by the LTTE, means the guerrillas have now openly declared war on Karuna cadres. Both the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE pledged in the joint statement issued after the Geneva talks in February that they "are committed to respecting and upholding the Ceasefire Agreement, and reconfirmed their commitment to fully co-operate with and respect the rulings of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)." By carrying out the attacks, and officially claiming responsibility for them, the LTTE is now making it clear it would deal directly with the Karuna faction which it identifies as a paramilitary group. This is disregarding the Government's assurance in the Geneva joint statement. It said, "The Government of Sri Lanka is committed to taking all necessary measures in accordance with the Ceasefire Agreement to ensure that no armed group or person other than the Government security forces will carry arms or conduct armed operations." More attacks on the Karuna faction are now a certainty after confessions are obtained from those in custody. They are being put through intense interrogation in the Wanni. There were two main issues that stood in the way of the resumption of the second round of talks in Geneva beginning April 19. Though the Government delegation prepared to take up wide ranging issues related to the peace process during the three days of talks, the LTTE was insistent on the talks being focused only on the Ceasefire Agreement and its effective implementation. One issue at stake was the LTTE accusation that the Government had not honoured its pledge in Geneva and disarmed the Karuna faction. Now, it has disregarded the Geneva accord and launched military action against this faction. The second was the refusal by the Government of Air Force helicopters to transport LTTE leaders from the east for a meeting with the leadership in Wanni. A last minute rejection of the use of a private sea going vessel led to an impasse. The Government thereafter offered the LTTE the use of SriLankan Airlines-owned ten-seater seaplane. Despite claims that the LTTE had agreed to this move, matters are still inconclusive. Yesterday, engineers of SriLankan Airlines were scheduled to travel to Trincomalee, Batticaloa and the Wanni to study the technicalities of landing and take off for the sea plane. But the LTTE which is not in favour of their visit had not granted approval. Norwegian facilitators were in touch with them yesterday but The Sunday Times learns the request may not meet with approval. Earlier, it was suggested that the seaplane could land at Giant's tank in the Government-controlled area of Murunkan, enabling the eastern leaders to drive by road to Omanthai under the supervision the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and cross over to guerrilla-held Wanni passing the checkpoint at Omanthai. The tank lay near the road from Medawachchiya to Talaimannar. Yet the Government has now reached out to the LTTE further. It is willing to let the seaplane land in the sprawling Iranamadu irrigation tank, east of Kilinochchi which is guerrilla-dominated area. Even in the highly unlikely event of the seaplane being used by the LTTE to facilitate a meeting with their eastern leaders, a number of important questions remain. Firstly, the demand for theatre to theatre air transport in itself raises an issue. It is no secret that the LTTE has the capability to put to use its own methods to summon eastern leaders for meetings in Kilinochchi. It has happened on many occasions in the past, more particularly during the "Maveerar (or Great Heroes) Week” in the month of November. It is known that even during the height of hostilities in the past, one time confidante of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and now renegade group leader, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna and many others slipped into Wanni after arriving in Mullaitivu by boat. Then, they dodged Navy patrols. But now, they were reluctant despite the SLMM escorting them whilst keeping a close eye on the Navy who are at sea. Why then is the LTTE making it appear that the non availability of air transport has put on hold a meeting of their eastern leaders? Is it part of posturing to place the Government in bad light, particularly in view of Air Force helicopters being given to them previously? They could argue that the Government was not genuine in its commitment to talk peace. On the other hand, they are delaying the dialogue by refusing permission to the engineers on grounds of security. The question that begs answer is whether this again is posturing. Would they still return to Geneva for talks whether or not the seaplane transport for their eastern leaders is granted? Or would they play for more time whilst stepping up the low intensity "Eelam War IV" they have already launched? The outbreak of an all-out war may end all efforts. But there is a more important aspect. The joint statement that followed the Geneva talks in February stands vitiated not only because the LTTE has publicly declared strikes against the Karuna faction. They have also ignored or violated a commitment they made. That is the pledge that "the LTTE is committed to taking all necessary measures to ensure that there will be no acts of violence against security forces and police." In other words, the two main ingredients of the joint statement, after two days of talks between the Government and the LTTE in Geneva, remain stultified. For easy reference, the full text of the joint statement appears in a box story on this page. In the light of this, at least academically, the important issue that comes to the fore is what the Government and the LTTE would talk if and when they meet again in Geneva. That, no doubt, will become an onerous task for the Norwegian peace facilitators. The LTTE is already executing militarily the only demand it made at the first round of Geneva talks: to disarm and prevent groups other than the State from carrying weapons or conducting operations. That is by attacking Karuna cadres and seizing their weapons. The Government, on the other hand, is gearing the armed forces, police and the state machinery to cope with a full-scale war which it fears would be thrust upon it by the LTTE. The change of course for the Government came on April 25 when a female suicide bomber successfully infiltrated the Army Headquarters. She flung herself at the motorcade of Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka. His condition has improved enabling him to leave the National Hospital. The Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) officially announced yesterday that he had been moved to Army Hospital and declared "he will resume duties in the near future." The announcement said he "suffered injuries only to his abdominal area and needs a short period of rest and relaxation as per advice of medical experts." Twelve days after the incident, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) detectives are facing a blank wall in their investigations. There is no record or evidence to show how the suicide bomber entered the heavily fortified Army Headquarters. Contrary to speculation in sections of the media, there is no shred of evidence that she carried out maternity tests at the Army Hospital. For that matter, it has now come to light that security procedures there had been so lax that people moved around freely. No records had been kept about persons visiting. Since the attack on Army Headquarters targeting Lt. Gen. Fonseka, the Government believes the LTTE is stepping up violent attacks with a two fold objective. One is to provoke the armed forces to respond with a major retaliatory strike thus leading to all-out war. The other is to trigger off incidents that will cause a communal backlash. The pattern of violence this week further confirms this belief. On Friday, two Inshore Patrol Craft (IPC) of the Navy were on patrol in the Gulf of Mannar. They were near the Kudiramalai point when an explosive laden dinghy was darting towards them. They shot and the dinghy was enveloped in a ball of fire. They gave chase to a second dinghy. The patrol had to stop after they spotted a vehicle mounted with a big gun. It appeared that the second dinghy was trying to draw the two IPCs closer to the shore so it could be fired at. The Navy sought air support. The Air Force scoured two Mi 24 helicopter gunships into the sky. By then the Tiger guerrilla vehicle had disappeared and there were no signs of the second dinghy. Some of the other incidents this week:
In another incident at Nelliady last Thursday, the military said they shot dead seven guerrilla cadres. According to the Army they opened fire after a grenade was hurled at them. However, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) charged in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the seven were students and not members of the LTTE. Continued attacks on Navy personnel in the Kayts area prompted a joint services operation on Friday. In an area where some 25,000 persons lived, a house-to-house search was conducted. Over 500 persons who had undergone training and joined LTTE's civilian militia were identified. In the wake of stepped up attacks on their cadres, members of the Karuna faction have also launched assaults on the LTTE. Last Monday, Karuna faction members attacked an LTTE sentry point in Upparu (in the Trincomalee district) killing eight guerrilla cadres. On Thursday, they shot dead a guerrilla pistol gang member at Kantalai. Intelligence sources say radio traffic of Tiger guerrilla bases both in the north and east have increased. They say most of the conversations were in code and were reminiscent of the days during Eelam War III when such conversations preceded a major attack. Some fear the attacks may intensify after tomorrow's local elections in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Granting a seaplane to carry LTTE eastern leaders for a meeting with the leadership in the Wanni may or may not become a reality. What remains to be seen is whether the LTTE will return to the negotiating table in Geneva and what it would want to discuss. If that is a critical question, a more crucial one is how attacks on armed forces and police are going to shape events in the weeks to come. The Government, no doubt, has to make a proper appraisal since the LTTE is making things clear every day. Geneva
pledges going to pieces If that, as the LTTE says, should be a precursor for the second round of peace talks in Geneva, the chances are becoming remote. In this backdrop, more importantly, a new issue that appears to surface is what the two sides would want to discuss - a tough task for the Norwegian peace facilitators to discern. This
is in the light of pledges made in the joint statement by the Government
and the LTTE (after the first round of talks in Geneva) being vitiated
by the recent events. For easy reference to the story on this page,
the eight paragraph joint statement is reprinted below: "The
parties discussed issues related to the ceasefire, including the
concerns of the Muslim, Sinhalese, and Tamil civilians. "The LTTE is committed to taking all necessary measures to ensure that there will be no acts of violence against the security forces and police. The GOSL is committed to taking all necessary measures in accordance with the Ceasefire Agreement to ensure that no armed group or person other than Government security forces will carry arms or conduct armed operations. "The
GOSL and the LTTE discussed all issues concerning the welfare of
children in the North East, including the recruitment of children. "The parties requested the Swiss Government to host the next round of talks in Geneva on 19-21 April 2006." |
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