The aim of the Tamil separatist groups, including the LTTE, is to establish a separate state of Eelam by merging the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. Once this proposed state of Eelam is established the conflict would be continued for the purpose of extending its territory in the first instance to the hill country and subsequently to other parts of Sri Lanka. The ultimate objective would be to establish a country of their own for the 118 million Tamil population in the world by conquering the Sinhala motherland and annihilating its 14 million Sinhala population.
To achieve their first aim of linking the northern province with the eastern province of Sri Lanka, a continuous land mass inhabited by Tamils must be established. This aim can never be achieved unless and until the Yan Oya basin is ethnically cleansed by driving away its Sinhala population to the southern parts of the country. Part of Mullaitivu,Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Trincomalee districts together form the Yan Oya basin. It was a granary of the ancient Sinhala people during the reign of both King Mahasen and King Maha Parakramabahu. Rice produced from its fertile fields which were irrigated by major tanks such as Padaviya and Wahalkada was exported to China from the harbour at Puhulmotte, which is now referred to as Pulmudai.
The aim of the separatist terrorists next was to bring pressure on the Sinhala population by attacking the border Sinhala villages of this basin and through terrorism to create an exodus of the Sinhala people to the southern parts of the country. To counter this the Army was deployed by the government for the protection of the Sinhala villages in this basin. Yan Oya basin thus became the gateway to Eelam and had to be defended if separatism was to be defeated. If this basin falls into the hands of separatist terrorists the north will be merged with the east and with Trincomalee as the capital of Eelam, the process of establishing the new state would be completed.
The importance of the Yan Oya basin can never be over emphasized, but sadly it seems that both the past UNP government and the present PA government have failed to understand the importance of this basin to protect the unity and territorial integrity of our motherland. No suitable strategy has been evolved to date for the defence of this all important basin. The situation has now deteriorated to such an extent that there is a regular exodus of its Sinhala population daily to the safer southern parts of the country as a result of intensified LTTE threats and attacks in this basin.
On October 25, 1995, a comprehensive report predicting imminent attacks on Sinhala villages bordering the Kebethigollewa-Padaviya road was forwarded to the General Officer Commanding the Second Division of the Army. In this report it was pointed out that several Sinhalese living in these villages had been abducted by the LTTE and that the LTTE would gather information from those who had been abducted to stage attacks on these Sinhala villages.
As a precautionary measure to prevent such attacks this report recommended the immediate construction of a bunker line to cover the gap of fourteen kilometres that existed between the forward defence line of Weli Oya and Vavuniya. It was suggested that this bunker line be started from Padavi Parakramapura in the Anuradhapura district and extended to Periyapuliyalankulam in the Vavuniya district. The construction of 280 bunkers forward of an abandoned road mutually supporting each other and dominating a well laid out minefield in front of the bunker line would have effectively provided adequate defence to bridge the gap through which the terrorists were constantly staging attacks deep into the Kebethigollewa area in the Anuradhapura district.
The initiator of this report was informed that the proposal had been submitted through the Commander of the Army to the Deputy Minister of Defence for necessary action. The gap was however never sealed and since then many Sinhala villages have been attacked as predicted in the report. More than twenty Sinhala villages in the Kebethigollewa divisional secretariat area have been abandoned since and 35% of its population has been reduced to refugee status. More than one hundred Army, Police and civilians have been killed since and many more wounded by LTTE raids conducted through this gap in the forward defence line.
The recent attack on three armoured vehicles killing twelve soldiers and causing a substantial loss in military equipment, the value of which would far exceed the construction cost of the proposed bunker line of fourteen kilometres, indicates the adverse results of not using common sense. The attack on the Kanugahawewa police post on January 18, 1997 during which the LTTE killed twenty one policemen and two homeguards and injured another eighteen policemen could also have been avoided if this bunker line had been constructed as suggested in the said report.
It is also common sense that the closest route to Kandy from Colombo is through Kegalle and not through Kurunegala. Without heeding to common sense and constructing fourteen kilometres of bunker line to bridge this gap, work has begun on the construction of a 21 kilometre bunker line for the same purpose. The tremendous advantages of the bunker line proposed in the report has been totally overlooked due to lack of common sense. One such advantage is that it would have enabled the use of manpower and defence material in the existing bunker line from Periyapuliyalankulam to Kuda Katchikudiya which is seven kilometres in extent that would become redundant with the establishment of the proposed bunker line from Periyapuliyalankulam to Padavi Parakramapura. Therefore man-power and defence stores would have to be found only for seven kilometres as opposed to thrice that requirement for the bunker line now under construction.
With the increase in distance from 14 kilometres to 21 kilometres, a longer period of time would be required to seal the gap and once completed would provide a longer frontage for possible LTTE attacks. The proposed new bunker line will also be hugging some populated villages and many abandoned villages. If an attack is staged on the bunker line by the LTTE, innocent civilians in these villages may be caught up in the crossfire. This new bunker line under construction from Kuda Katchikudiya in the Vavuniya district to Morakewa in the Anuradhapura district will not therefore induce the Sinhala population who have left Ralapanawa, Kelepuliyan-kulama, Kunchuttuwa, Vihara Halmillewa, Halmillewatiya, Dutuwewa, Yakawewa, Indigollewa, Kanugahawewa, Kele Nikawewa, Thalgas-wewa, Maha Nikawewa and Morakewa to return to their homes as they would fear to live close to the new bunker line anticipating possible LTTE attacks. All these abandoned villages could however be resettled if the bunker line is established from Padavi Parakkramapura to Periya-puliyalankulam.
The establishment of the bunker line from Padavi Parakkramapura to Periya-puliyalankulam will make the main supply route to Padaviya perfectly safe from possible attacks by terrorists. It would also enable the route from Medawachchiya to Kebethi-gollewa to be used without fear once more. The road from Kebethigollewa to Vavuniya could also be reopened for safe use.
If, however, the situation that now prevails is allowed to continue unabated it will result in a shortage of essential commmodities in the interior areas of the Yan Oya basin very soon as many lorries that transport these items do not go there any longer due to the risk involved. There is also the danger of buses and other forms of transport being attacked on this insecure road. When free movement is not possible to this area both for people and essential commodities the exodus of the population out of this inaccessible area in search of safer habitats in the south is inevitable.
This article has been written to awaken the common sense of those responsible for the security of our motherland to correct mistakes that have resulted in the loss of valuable life and equipment and with a view to reversing the situation even at this late stage by evolving a sensible strategy to provide adequate security for this all important Yan Oya basin and thereby to defeat the aims and objectives of the separatist terrorists who are systematically engaged in a process of ethnic cleansing in this area.
It is the people who live and work in these areas that can best see the imminent future dangers to this area. The author of this article has lived in more than 50 LTTE affected villages with these innocent people in their humble dwellings and with the wealth of information gathered from this exercise is making these facts available to those who are in authority with the sincere hope of receiving a positive response.
Don't drop Boris Yeltsin from the Russian team. He may not be fit to captain the Moscow Dynamos, the star players but the selectors are still searching for a substitute. Alas no consensus.
True, Anatoly Chubais does support Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin and Mr. Chubais is the powerful boss of the Presidential Secretariat, post-Communist Russia's White House or No. IO. And Mr. Chubais is quite sure "there is no comparable figure in Russia, no other person capable of assuming his functions." That's what he told Obshchaya Gazeta when it interviewed him recently.
And yet, General Alexander Lebed, a war hero to millions as the commander of a famous paratroop brigade, seems to have some other ideas. "Our country is headed by a very sick and elderly man. He needs to retire," he told British reporter John Thornhill. But no. This is no old-style "Kremlin power struggle," a popular front-page story in the western press in post-Stalin USSR, Russia's new democracy, perestroika, glasnost and all, do make a difference.
But the trials of a smooth, constitutionally proper transition, are all too obvious.
Though Prime Minister Chernomyrdin may well be the front-runner, he does have some problems. First, he is a "dull performer," said the same correspondent. Besides, his appeal to the diplomatic community as a "dependable leader" is hardly matched by his support of that rather wide segment of the electorate which associates him with the mounting economic problems. The longer Mr. Yeltsin lives the less likely his loyal prime minister is to succeed him correspondent Thornhill concluded.
Not all his rivals, though, can exploit this unpopularity freely. They have their own minus points. Take the Chechen war for instance. Among those who regard the conclusion of the secessionist war in Chechnya, an honourable victory for Russia, General Lebed's prestige is almost unassailable. But what of those ultra-nationalist Russians who are inclined to regard it as humiliating retreat. Or worse.
But now an impeachment. The motion was tabled in the Duma by Viktor Ilyukhin, a communist deputy. Despite strong objections by the legal experts of the Duma who argue that it is ultra vires, the anti-Yeltsin group shows no serious sign of agreeing to a compromise, let alone a retreat. But the pressure on the "rebels" and "dissidents" is mounting, too.
The Soviet implosion left a huge question mark before Russia's future... the future of the world's largest country, with vast natural resources which the 70 year old state could not profitably exploit. Siberia instead became a synonym for the world's largest prison. As post-Gorbachev Russia goes through its own form of 'structural adjustment," the IMF - World Bank, may be tempted to treat Russia as another "economic mess" like most Third World countries. As for the resource-rich Siberia it may be regarded as Russia's "wild west."
One of the more interesting features of a fast-changing Russia is the Stock Market. In the previous trading days studied by Nicholas Jordan, director of the Moscow office of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, the German-owned investment bank, Russian shares had surged by more than 15%. A re-weighting of portfolios among emerging markets was Mr. Jordan's explanation. Marx and Engels did acknowledge the primacy of economics but whether Lenin would have approved the growing contribution of the stock market in his Russia is not an issue that the communist press has cared to discuss.
Despite the optimism, Mr. Jordan was careful not to neglect the political pressures. "I do not think anything has changed so dramatically in Russia in the past weeks.... It is simply a question that a new year has come and fund managers have made new asset allocation." He then advised strongly against the comforting assumption that "the economic reform is irreversible in Russia." He was right when he stressed the critical role of President Boris Yeltsin. He must remain at the helm, he added. The Komsomolsksaya Pravda chose to sneer. "When Yeltsin sneezes, Russia dries itself down."
If President Yeltsin dies... After Boris who? is the most popular guessing game in Moscow, in the political parties, the armed forces, the foreign investors and of course the diplomatic community... from the US and European Union to China and Japan. General Alexander Lebed fired the first shot.
"Our country is headed by a very sick and elderly man. He needs to retire". The former paratroop commander, General Alexander Lebed fired the first shot, a tactical move he obviously believes will make him the front-runner.
In suggesting that President Yeltsin was "very sick," and emphasizing his age, the General chose a tactical manoeuvre which he hopes will bring him some pro-Yeltsin votes when the contest is held. General Lebed knows that his real 'enemy' is Prime Minister Mr. Victor Chernomyrdin. The Prime Minister would move into the President's office the moment Mr. Yeltsin moves out. Once in office, he knows that Anatoly Chubais, Mr. Yeltsin's aide who worked for President Yeltsin in a role not too different from a White House chief of staff, would back the legitimate successor, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.
The battle may then see Mr. Chernomyrdin confronted by the "war hero," General Alexander Lebed whose paratroop brigade turned the tide in the bitter battles in Chechnya.
A new front however has been opened in the "war" to oust President Yeltsin - an impeachment motion which the Duma Council decided to place on the parliamentary agenda despite arguments that it was ultra vires. The communist party which has a fair number of deputies decided that it was wiser to avoid a frontal assault on the presidency.
Their compromise was President Yeltsin's resignation on grounds of poor health. "Yeltsin must find the courage to evaluate his own state of health", said a Communist MP, Leonid Ivanchenko. In an obvious "damage limitation" exercise, the President's top aides have impressed two well-attended press conferences that Mr. Yeltsin will meet French President Jacques Chirac on February 2. What's more, Mr. Yeltsin will attend a European Union summit in the Hague the next day. Will President Yeltsin respond to the Communist party proposal and take the soft option... resign?
The Children who were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse at the Vijitha Home in Beruwala are to be examined by a pofessor of medicine.
This comes on the orders of the Kalutara Magistrate Sunil Rajapakse who after hearing submissions in the shocking sex abuse case recently directed that the children be examined by Prof. Chandrasiri Kirielle, the Judicial Medical Officer for the district.
The magistrate remanded two of the suspects - a hotel owner and a gardener - while five others were allowed bail till the case is again taken up on January 29.
After a lawyer complained that one of the children had been threatened by a suspect, the magistrate directed the police to provide extra security and also to check bank accounts of a suspect.
New missle. with on-board infra-red cameras for guidance gives pinpoint accuracy from beyond the range of air defences, writes David Windle
The US Navy is testing a new type of highly accurate missile that used the GPS satellite network to find its way to a target and then uses a digitised photograph to hit a selected part, such as a particular room or floor of a building.
The Slam-er (Standoff Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response) is 14ft long, with an 8ft wingspan, and can be launched from aircraft or ship.
It is made by McDonnell Douglas, which says limited production of the missile will begin in April.
The jet-powered Slam-er achieves its incredible accuracy by incorporating a sophisticated navigation system that used the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite network combined with an infrared seeker camera.
Video images of the target are relayed back to the aircraft, allowing the aircrew to select the point of impact from a display screen.
Once "locked on" to a part of the target, the missile adjusts its course automatically to deliver its warhead.
A further enhancement of the guidance system currently under development will use pattern-matching software to compare the images from the missile's infrared camera with digitised pictures of the exact part the missile should hit.
As the missile approaches the target, it looks for a match between the two and once found locks on, requiring no external input.
The development of the winged missile, which has a range of more than 100 miles, reflects the Pentagon's growing determination to minimise the risk to pilots by keeping them as far away from anti-aircraft defences as possible.
By improving the accuracy of its weapons systems, it also hopes to cut civilian casualties and reduce damage to surrounding areas, enabling it to attack targets in crowded urban areas without suffering the propaganda setback of dead women and children.
James Restelli, vice-president of missile systems for McDonnell Douglas, officially handed over the first Slam-er to the US Navy late last month, describing it as "the world's premier surgical-strike missile available today."
The value of destroying key enemy targets with air-to-surface weapons was demonstrated by the coalition air force during the Gulf War of 1991, when laser-guided bombs hit Iraqi command-and-communication centres in Baghdad with pinpoint accuracy, blinding the high command and preventing them from mounting an effective response.
However, such strikes were only possible because Stealth bombers were able to sneak past the sophisticated Iraqi radar network and deliver the short-range ordnance amid heavy ground fire, remaining on station while their pilots used lasers to guide the bombs to their targets.
In an effort to extend this level of effectiveness to non-Stealth aircraft, the decision was taken to develop a missile with equal or better precision, but without the need to fly close to the target and remain in the area to maintain laser contact.
Clifford Beal, editor of Jane's International Defence Review, believes the new generation of missiles will dramatically reduce the risk of aircraft being hit by the enemy.
"By employing advances in technology such as GPS and general pattern-matching algorithms, these new missiles will be able to achieve unprecedented levels of accuracy with reduced risk to aircrews, affording military commanders the benefits of neutralising the target while keeping civilian casualties and collateral damage to a minimum," he says.
Some 700 Slam-ers will be produced for the US Navy by 2004. The Expanded Response upgrade will also be available as a retro-fit to existing Slam missiles.
In an illustration of how advanced technology is changing the attitude of the military General Ronald R Fogleman, chief of staff of the US Air Force, said recently: "We're beginning to change our thinking from how many aircract does it take to destroy one target to how many targets can we destroy with one aircraft.-The Sunday Times-London
A young Catholic priest who is spearheading a campaign against the increasing incidence of child abuse has blamed the government for failing to take action against the masterminds behind the sordid racket including foreigners who pose off as investors but engage in the child sex trade.
Father Anthony Humer Pinto, Director of the Don Bosco Technical Training Institute in Negombo, has received death threats, anonymous calls and poison-pen letters expecting him to give up his campaign. But Fr. Pinto is determined to carry on his anti-child sex drive relentlessly.
Fr. Pinto, with a few years of experience about the problems of child abuse in the Philippines, told 'The Sunday Times' in an interview that it has now been revealed that Sri Lanka is being openly advertised in foreign countries 'as a paradise for paedophiles.' He said the advertisements specifically mention 'personal services' which would be provided in Sri Lanka for a few dollars.
"I have come across at least 200 boys who have been sexually abused by foreigners. Like Sri Lanka becoming the centre for drugs, the country is now turning into a paradise for child sex. It is known that foreigners fearing that they would be infected with AIDS do not visit country's like Thailand. They prefer to come to Sri Lanka where the risk is less and the service cheap, he said.
He said the government seems to be taking little action on complaints made against foreigners who are engaged in the child sex trade. Citing an example Fr. Pinto pointed out that at the widely publicized Stockholm conference about child prostitution held in the latter part of last year a top level Sri Lankan delegation were shown magazines where Sri Lanka had been advertised as a location ideal for paedophiles. They were given a list compiled by Interpol, the international police, which had the name of a foreign freelance photographer reportedly involved in paedophile activities and also photographing children in the nude and selling the pictures.
'We know that no action has been taken against him and he is still functioning in the same capacity,' Fr. Pinto said. He said that government was not taking action as they were concerned about the tourism industry and foreign investment.
'We are not against tourism, but the government should take action to see that the tourist industry is not dirty,' the priest pointed out. He said in 1991 a Task Force was appointed by the government, but little action was taken and ultimately the body became inactive due to internal rivalry and influence from various parties.
Fr. Pinto said that among the task force activities launched to protect children were a silent protest march, a poster campaign and educational programmes. He said that members were also able to carry out surprise raids on locations where child abuse was taking place. However after the task force became inactive the campaign also fizzled out.
'We are carrying on our campaign with minimum resources. Government officials should be seriously concerned about the issue. They should give us the maximum support to help us in our crusade to protect the children.'
'It is sad to say that some politicians are protecting certain masterminds of the child-sex rackets. Some of them operate under the guise of investors.'
He said that police also should be blamed for not taking prompt action against child sex racketeers.
He said that in most cases school drop-outs and school-leavers look for jobs in the tourist industry. Usually they fall into the hands of 'pimps' who introduce them to foreigners and ultimately end up in having sex with them.
He said it was difficult to rehabilitate those engaged in child sex as many of them become dependent on the money they get from the foreigners.
The Don Bosco Technical Training Institute presently provides vocational training to some of the victims. He said the main objective of the institute was to train school leavers in various vocations, but it has been able to help some of the victims as well.
'If the government fails to act faster to protect the children there is no doubt that the children, particularly in the coastal areas, would be in danger,' he warned.
It is one of the most enchanting places on earth. Children play beach cricket as the surf laps around the palm-fringed shores of Sri Lanka. European tourists laze in the sun drinking from coconut shells. But many come for a more sinister attraction: to buy children for sex .
Lying off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka has become a prime location for European paedophiles. They are drawn to the island by a thriving trade in children controlled by local pimps. Some charge as little as £4 for sex with a child.
As other Asian countries try to crack down on the traffic, so called "Boymen" - the local world for middle-aged European sex tourists - scour the beaches for children to abuse.
In Negombo, a once idyllic resort about 30 miles north of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, evidence of the trade was inescapable. Suren, a pimp who controls the paedophile rings, was one of the most popular people on the beach. That day he had just supplied two boys to two German tourists.
Suren, 25, is an old hand at child prostitution. At 14 he was seduced by a local Swiss resident who gave him drugs to make him compliant. Now he pimps to feed his drug habit.
"Some policemen encourage us to go with foreigners," he said. "They say we should go with the foreigner, open the door of the room and lie naked on the bed. If we do that, they say they will (carry out a) raid, and if they get 20,000 rupees from the foreigner, they will give us 5,000."
Not all the child abusers are tourists. Some like it so much that they stay on. Dozens of resident foreigners have opened businesses near poor villages and use the children of their neighbours as sexual partners.
Pointing to one villa, Suren spoke of Jim an Englishman. "He likes to take three boys to bed with him at night", he said. Around the next block was Guy, an Australian. "He makes the boys sniff cocaine, and he takes photographs to sell abroad," said Suren. Next door was Jan, a Dutchman, "One of the boys had to go to hospital after he had sex with him."
The abuse has spread to institutions. Two Sri Lankan orphanages are under investigation for possible links with European paedophile rings. Two members of the staff at a prestigious fee-paying school in the southern town of Galle have been arrested and charged with supplying pupils to sex tourists.
However, high-profile police patrols of beaches favoured by paedophiles have done little to stop the trade. The pimps and tourists move up the coast. Mohamed Nizam, head of the police force's new child abuse desk in Colombo, admitted some of his men took bribes.
Yet some progress has been made. After a conference in Stockholm last year on the exploitation of children, Sri Lanka changed its law to provide for up to 20 years in jail for child abuse offenders. The Swiss man who seduced Suren and then used him as his personal pimp is expected to be charged under this law.
Dubbed the king of Negombo by locals, the Swiss national owns four factories and is a friend of government ministers and high-ranking police officers. He has provided jobs and given donations to schools, buying silence from his victims. "The case has been known to everyone in Negombo for at least five or six years," said Maureen Seneviratne of Peace, a group campaigning against child abusers. "Nobody wanted to act because he has so much powerful support."
Father Pinto, a priest who runs a rehabilitation centre for child abuse victims in Negombo, has received death threats. He was pessimistic that such "big fish" would ever be brought to justice, "he is being protected by this government." Fr. Pinto said, "He has given money to the election campaign and is buying a lot of people."
Four weeks ago Gunther Platzdash, a German charged with abusing small boys, was released on bail after his 18th court appearance when he insisted on a retrial with a German translator. Platzdash advertised Sri Lanka's "attractions" in a German gay contract magazine and offered to arrange "two double rooms with boys, balcony, on the beach, for DM7, with breakfast."
The police are not helped by a legal system that requires visual evidence of the crime. Platzdash dismissed the charges against him because "nobody has seen me in my house having sex with boys." He added: "Anyway, the boys like us foreigners."
Despite new laws to enable European countries to charge returning paedophiles, there have been few prosecutions. Martin Staebler, who attended the Stockholm conference on behalf of End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism, called for countries such as Britain and Germany to send their own detectives to investigate child abuse by their nationals.
"The more evidence we have, the more court cases we will have," he said. "These people will know that they can't go to Sri Lanka because there are people out there watching them."
Until this happens, Suren will continue to ply his trade. At 4 p.m. business was just beginning. Quite openly. Suren approached a German regular on the beach and offered him a boy for 250 rupees (£4). The German refused. He said it was too much money.
Sunday Times London
(See also page 11 of the Plus section)
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