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Peace Still A Long Way from Govt. Ceasefire With Tigers
by Marwaan Macan-Markar
JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Feb 23 (IPS) - As the sun sets in this
town that has been at the heart of Sri Lanka's two-decade-long
ethnic conflict, gentle reminders of life in a time of peace
emerge.
Tsunami Tragedy
Bridges Divide Among Ethnic Groups
by Amantha Perera
BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka, Dec 30 (IPS) - The tsunami that caused more than 23,800 deaths so far in Sri Lanka is creating temporary rapprochement between ethnic groups that stayed away from each other despite a three-year ceasefire between the government and Tamil separatist rebels.
Sri Lanka Military
Commitment Not in India's Interests
Analysis - by Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Nov 11 (IPS) - While India is ready to enter into a 'defence cooperation agreement' with Sri Lanka, it is wary of being drawn into any military involvement in the island nation's two decades-old civil war that has seen violent strife between ethnic Tamils and the Sinhalese majority - leaving over 60,000 dead on both sides.
Peace Takes a
Back Seat as Talks Deadlocked
By Amantha Perera
KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, Sep 24 (IPS) - There are slim hopes that the Sri Lankan government and rebel Tamil Tigers would restart peace talks soon after four people including a top renegade Tiger fighter were shot dead in growing factional fighting in the country.
Peace Dividend
Hard to Come by in War-torn Region
By Feizal Samath
JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Feb 2 (IPS) - Visitors driving through
Sri Lanka's war-battered northern region are struck by lush
vegetable fields ready for harvest, rows of coconut trees
whose tops have been sliced off by constant bombing -- and
miles of unused land.
SRI LANKA:
U.S. Court Ruling Seen as Aiding Tamil Rebels
By Amantha Perera
BERKELEY, United States, Jan 16 (IPS) - A U.S. court ruling
could ease efforts to raise funds for the Tamil Tigers of
Sri Lanka, where the rebels are bolstering civil projects
amid a cease-fire with government forces.
SRI LANKA: Big
U.S. Role in Peace Process Unlikely - Analysts
By Amantha Perera
BERKELEY, United States, Nov 28 (IPS) - The United States
has been appearing more often in the political radar screen
of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, but experts
both in and out of the South Asian island nation do not see
Washington taking up a major role in efforts to reach a settlement
in its ethnic conflict.
War-torn
Region on Edge with Peace Process Uncertain
By Rahul Bedi
JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Nov 16 (IPS) - The ravages of war in Sri Lanka's
northern Jaffna peninsula scar this verdant region some 21 months after the
start of the ceasefire between Tamil Tiger rebels and the government - one
that has now been put in peril by the country's political crisis.
Opportunity Lurks
under Crisis of Troubled Nation
Analysis - By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Nov 13 (IPS) - Though much of the attention around
Sri Lanka's political crisis centres around the instability
it has caused, the current standoff could actually result
in firmer cohabitation between the feuding camps of President
Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
-- and give a boost to peace talks.
Dismissals of Ministers Unlikely to Upset Peace Process
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Nov 4 (IPS) - The firing by Sri Lankan President Chandrika
Kumaratunga Tuesday of three ministers has triggered a major constitutional
uproar, but is unlikely to upset the peace process and a 20-month long
ceasefire, analysts here say.
Stigma, Harassment Add to War Widows' Burdens
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
COLOMBO, Nov 4 (IPS) - Losing their husbands in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict
has been difficult enough for the thousands of war widows here, but putting
back the pieces of their lives has not been any easier.
Absence of War
Has Yet to Improve Quality of Life
Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Oct 23 (IPS) - The 20-month-old ceasefire between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government, the longest in Sri Lanka's history, has delivered a mixed bag of blessings to people, especially those who live in conflict-affected areas.
Former Child
Soldiers Face Uncertain Future
Kumudini Hettiarachchi
KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, Oct 6 (IPS) - The 15-year-old child
soldier joined Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) after her father was shot dead by government troops,
but is unsure about her future after leaving the rebel group.
Children Speak
up to Shape Education Policy
Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Sep 2 (IPS) - Once, at a workshop for children,
government officials were busy praising the efforts of a special
desk for women and children in Sri Lankan police stations,
until one child asked: "But how can it be successful
if no one is at the desk?".
Keeping Watch
over a Tenuous Ceasefire Far from Easy
Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Aug 6 (IPS) - The refusal of Tamil Tiger rebels
to dismantle a
camp in northern Sri Lanka highlights the supposed clout -
as well as
weaknesses - of Scandinavian peace monitors whose presence
is supposed to keep the ceasefire going.
War-torn North
Has Little to Show as Peace Dividend
Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Jul 31 (IPS) - When Tamil rebels and the Sri Lankan
government reached a ceasefire pact in February 2001, dozens
of businessmen from the south rushed to the war-ravaged northern
town of Jaffna, seeking business and commercial links and
raising the hopes of residents.
SRI LANKA: Twenty
Years Later, Wounds of Anti-Tamil Riots Fester
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Jul 23 (IPS) - Twenty years after Sri Lanka's worst pogrom of minority Tamils, an event that shamed a nation while the world looked in horror, bitterness and pain among Tamils toward the majority Sinhalese has eased, but remains hard to forget.
Suicide
Cadres Still Evoke Fear
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Jul 16 (IPS) - Talk about the Tamil Tigers'
suicide cadres and many in both the majority Sinhala
community and minority Tamils here in Sri Lanka react
with fear.
''Their commitment is scary," says Lakshman Wickremasinghe,
a Sinhalese. His thoughts are echoed by Nadaraja Sivaganashan,
a Tamil. ''They don't care who, when or what, they will
kill themselves."
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Since
the start of the peace talks in Sri Lanka, the Tigers
have allowed, just once, a rare public display of
the much-feared Black Tiger suicide cadres. Credit:
Buddhika Weerasinghe.
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Tamil Tigers
Reveal Chinks in Their Armour
Analysis - By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Jun 27 (IPS) - By setting new conditions for resurrecting
the stalled peace talks, the Tamil Tigers have conceded that
the world beyond the patch of land they control in northern
Sri Lanka is an inhospitable place.
Tigers' Restrictions Reflect Uncertain Peace Process
Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Jun 27 (IPS) - When Tamil Tiger rebels opened up
areas under their control after reaching a ceasefire with
the government last year, the Heroes' Cemetery at Visuvamadhu
in Mullathivu district along Sri Lanka's north-east coast
became a major attraction.
Tamil Tigers Are
No Pushovers
Analysis - By Marwaan Macan-Markar
COLOMBO, Jun 11 (IPS) - While the Sri Lankan government
views the financial pledges made at this week's aid meeting
in Tokyo as a windfall, this sentiment may be short-lived
if the Tamil Tigers live up to their mark as rebels who are
not easy pushovers.
Gov't Gets 4.5
Billion Dollars in Pledges, Tied to Peace
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Jun 10 (IPS) - Donors pledged 4.5 billion U.S. dollars
for rebuilding efforts in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, but their
tying the release of these funds to the resumption of peace
talks highlights the fragility of efforts to end the country's
two-decade-old war.'
Relevant, Not
Big-ticket, Reconstruction Plans Needed
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Jun 4 (IPS) - Ask farmer Saranaris from Sri Lanka's
north-west whether the future lies in economic growth and
private sector-led development and he says, ''I want to continue
growing rice, but the big people (donors) tell me to grow
something else.''
Tigers' Demands
Show Room for Revival of Peace Talks
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, May 22 (IPS) - The Tamil Tigers' renewal Thursday
of their demand of a rebel-led interim administration in Sri
Lanka's north-east, in return for resuming peace talks, is
a welcome move that keeps the door open to continued negotiations,
analysts here say.
Suspension of
Talks Puts Ceasefire to Test
Analysis - By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Apr 25 (IPS) - By pulling out of this month's round
of peace talks, the Tamil Tigers have forced a 14-month old
ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and
the rebels to face its sternest test.
Tiger Rebels'
Suspension of Talks Shows Fear -Analysts
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Apr 22 (IPS) - A sudden decision by the Tamil Tigers
to suspend its participation in the seven-month old peace
talks with the Sri Lankan government came as no surprise to
political commentators here, who believe it is an arm-twisting
exercise by the rebels.
U.S. Shows Tigers
It's the Godfather of Global Affairs
Analysis - By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Apr 15 (IPS) - The leader of the Tiger rebels, Vellupillai
Prabhakaran, sees himself as the godfather of Tamil politics in Sri Lanka,
but he is being forced to learn that the U.S. government revels in having
that title when it comes to global politics.
Anti-Corruption
NGO Fears Misuse of Funds
By Clive Freeman
BERLIN, Apr 12 (IPS) - Transparency International (TI), a global
non-governmental organisation battling world-wide corruption, has spoken of
the risks of large-scale donor funds for Sri Lankan reconstruction being
misallocated.
Economic Woes
Higher Priority than Peace
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Mar 24 (IPS) - New poll results showing that Sri
Lankans are most concerned about daily economic woes explain
why it is not easy to mobilise more mass movement in support
of the peace process, analysts say.
Peace Negotiators Identify Touchy Issues Ahead
Suvendrini Kakuchi
HAKONE, Japan, Mar 21 (IPS) - Overshadowed by the war in
Iraq halfway across the world, Sri Lanka's peace negotiators
pushed hard to end four days of difficult peace talks in this
mountain resort on an optimistic note on Friday.
Sea Clash Sorted out, Collapse of Talks Averted
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
HAKONE, Japan, Mar 18 (IPS) - Negotiators for Sri Lanka's
government and the Tamil Tigers used the first day of peace
talks Tuesday to iron out tensions around a sea clash between
the navy and the rebels - and prevent similar incidents that
could threaten the peace process.
SRI LANKA: Displaced
People Return, but Hungry for Peace
By Rita Manchanda
JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Feb 28 (IPS) - After decades of civil war, this year the
migratory birds have returned to the wetlands along the A-9
highway to the north-eastern Jaffna peninsula, every inch
of which is scarred with battles fought between the Sri Lankan
army and the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Fifth Round of
Peace Talks Focuses on Rights Issue
by Johan Mikaelsson
BERLIN, Feb 9 (IPS) - At the fifth round of Sri Lanka peace
talks, representatives of the government and Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have agreed to deal with key human rights
and political issues.
Rights
Issue Needs Higher Place in Talks - Analysts
by Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Feb 3 (IPS) - Sri Lanka's peace talks, now entering
its sixth month, could lose credibility unless human rights
issues are pushed even higher up at the top of the agenda,
rights activists here warn
POLITICS:
Blueprint Emerges for Future Peace Talks
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
NAKHON PATHOM, Thailand, Jan 10 (IPS) - In the agreements
reached during the just-concluded round of Sri Lankan peace
talks here, the negotiators laid out the route they wish to
use to cross the political minefields that lie ahead.
Finally,
Peace Talks to Tackle Human Rights
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
NAKHON PATHOM, Thailand, Jan 9 (IPS) - The Tamil Tigers wound
up the fourth round of Sri Lankan peace talks here by issuing
an unequivocal guarantee to the Tamil mothers of the country's
north and east - that their children are safe from the Tigers'
claws.
Row
over Military Territory Tests Peace Talks
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
NAKHON PATHOM, Thailand, Jan 6 (IPS) - After an initial smooth
run, the Sri Lankan peace talks entered its fourth round here
Monday with negotiators up against the first major hurdle
that will test their keenness to stay on course.
Amid
Peace, Business Turns to Education, Health
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Dec 5 (IPS) - After shunning involvement in Sri
Lanka's nearly two-decade old ethnic conflict, the business
community is spearheading efforts to put the country back
on track not only through its support of the peace process,
but other initiatives as well.
Political
Solution In Sight Following Oslo Peace Talks
By Johan Mikaelsson
OSLO, Dec 5 (IPS) - Sri Lanka on Thursday took a major step
forward in the search for a solution to ending the 19-year
separatist conflict when the tropical Indian Ocean government,
and the Tamil Tiger rebels, agreed to work out regional autonomy
within a federal system.
Despite Donors'
Meeting, Legitimacy Eludes Tiger Rebels
Analysis - By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Nov 27 (IPS) - If the Sri Lankan peace talks in
Thailand had convinced the Tamil Tiger rebels that they were
on the way to achieving their Holy Grail -- international
legitimacy -- then this week's meeting of donors in Norway
shattered that illusion.
Scepticism
Looms over Tamil Tigers' Softened Stance
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Nov 8 (IPS) - The scepticism that has greeted the
Tamil Tigers' softening of their positions in Sri Lanka's
ethnic conflict shows the challenge that the government faces
in getting acceptance of any peace deal between the rebels
and the state.
Tamil
Tigers Want to Become a Political Force
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
NAKHON PATHOM, Thailand, Nov 3 (IPS) - In a resounding endorsement
of the Sri Lankan peace process, the Tamil Tiger rebels announced
here Sunday that they are committed to becoming a political
force and entering the ''democratic political mainstream''
in the country.
Tiger
Commander's Presence Lifts Hopes at Peace Talks
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
NAKHON PATHOM, Thailand, Nov 1 (IPS) - A key Tamil Tiger
military commander was a decidedly elusive figure on the first
day of the second round of the Sri Lankan peace talks here.
He turned down interviews and kept well away from the media
pack hounding the negotiators.
Second
Phase of Peace Talks a Development Round
NAKHON PATHOM, Thailand, Oct 31 (IPS) - The second round
of peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil
Tigers, which began here Thursday, is being billed as a development
round.
New
Talks, Some New Faces
BANGKOK - There will be some new faces at the second round
of the peace negotiations between the Sri Lankan government
and the Tamil Tiger rebels, due to start on Oct. 31.
Akashi's
Visit to Sri Lanka Signals Japan's Interest in Rehabilitation
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO - The November visit to Sri Lanka by Japan's Yasushi
Akashi, an ex-U.N. diplomat with long experience in conflict-ridden
areas like Cambodia and Yugoslavia, highlights Tokyo's interest
in playing a role in rehabilitation efforts in the war-ravaged
island nation.
Rights
Must Take Front Seat in Second Round of Talks
Commentary - By K Sritharan
COLOMBO, Oct 29 (IPS) - The second round of peace talks between
the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers, which starts
Thursday, must not be a repetition of the first, where human
rights issues took a backseat.
Political
Squabbles Will Not Undercut Peace Talks
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Oct 28 (IPS) - Political squabbling between Sri
Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Chandrika
Kumaratunga is feeding fears of instability, but analysts
say it is unlikely to undercut peace talks with Tamil rebels
that will enter their second round on Oct. 31.
Scepticism
of Tigers' Position Reveals Deep Divisions
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Sep 24 (IPS) - One week after Tamil rebel negotiator
Anton Balasingham said the Tigers have scaled down their long-cherished
goal of a separate state, many Sri Lankans and commentators
on both sides of the ethnic conflict are far from convinced
about his statement.
Development
Is Key to Continued Sri Lankan Peace - PM
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 20 (IPS) - Economic development in parts
of the country devastated by 20 years of bloody civil war
will be key to maintaining harmony as peace talks continue,
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told reporters
Friday.
Sri
Lankan Communities in Canada Still Divided
By Paul Weinberg
TORONTO, Sep 20 (IPS) - While peace appears be settling over
Sri Lanka after two decades of a brutal civil war between
a national government dominated by the majority Sinhalese
and the minority Tamils, their counterparts outside the country
are still not talking to each other.
Too
Early to Call Talks a Success, Indian Analysts Say
By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Sep 19 (IPS) - Although the talks between Colombo
and the Tamil Tigers, are being widely hailed as historic
and path-breaking, experts in India, Sri Lanka's 'big brother',
are reserving judgement until they have heard pronouncements
from reclusive rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Pragmatism,
Respect and Mediation Key to Peace Process
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
SATTAHIP, Thailand, Sep 19 (IPS) - The signals of peace from
the just-finished round of talks on Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict
stem from three elements that saw the negotiations through:
pragmatism, mutual respect, and effective international mediation.
Tamil
Tigers Scale Down Demand for Homeland
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
SATTAHIP, Thailand, Sep 18 (IPS) - The Tamil Tiger rebels
gave the peace process a real shot at success at the end of
their three-day talks with Sri Lankan officials Wednesday,
by scaling down their long-time demand for a separate state
and opting to settle for greater autonomy in Sri Lanka.
INDIA:
Tamil Refugees Hope Talks Will Get Them Home
By S P Udayakumar
KANYAKUMARI, India, Sep 17 (IPS) - For Annammal, a grandmother
who lives in a camp for Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka here
in southern India, the peace talks in distant Thailand represent
the one chance that she may yet see the homeland in Jaffna
that she fled 10 years ago.
Pattaya
a Reminder of What War Has Cost Sri Lanka
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
SATTAHIP, Thailand, Sep 17 (IPS) - If the Sri Lankan ministers
talking peace with Tamil Tiger leaders here were to pause
from the negotiations and drive to the nearby seaside town
of Pattaya, they would find in its teeming number of tourists
a poignant reminder of Sri Lanka's huge economic losses due
to its 19-year ethnic conflict.
Hakeem.
Credit: The Sunday Times/Sri Lanka
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Spirit
of Inclusion Augurs Well for Peace Talks
Analysis By Marwaan Macan-Markar
SATTAHIP, Thailand, Sep 16 (IPS) - The presence of
Rauff Hakeem, leader of Sri Lanka's largest Muslim political
party, among the negotiators at the talks between Colombo
and separatist Tamil rebels here places this round of
peace negotiations in a league of its own.
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Focus
on Dialogue Marks Start of Peace Talks
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
SATTAHIP, Thailand, Sep 16 (IPS) - The chief negotiators
for both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger
rebels struck a conciliatory note -- and delivered verbal
bouquets to each other -- at Monday's opening of peace
talks to resolve Sri Lanka's long-running ethnic conflict.
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In the
spirit of equality, there is no Tamil Tiger or Sri
Lankan flag at the negotiating table. Credit: Thai
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Muralitharan.
Credit: The Sunday Times/Sri Lanka
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On
Eve of Talks, Cricket Helps Soothe Wounds of War
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO Sep 15 (IPS) - If there is one issue that has
bonded communities in war-ravaged Sri Lanka, it is cricket
- one of whose biggest international tournaments is
underway here as the peace talks between the government
and Tamil Tiger rebels start Monday..
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Hopes,
Fears High on Peace Talks with Tigers
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO (IPS) - Sri Lanka's two main ethnic communities
have high hopes for the September peace talks with Tamil
Tiger rebels, but the country's Muslims, though supportive,
are also worried they could end up a "minority
within a minority" after the negotiations.
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Sri Lankan
soldiers at a checkpoint helping civilians going to
what until recently was war-torn areas in the north
Credit: The Sunday Times/Sri Lanka
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Rights
and Peace are Part of the Same Equation
Commentary - By Vasantha Sritharan*
COLOMBO (IPS) - Civil society organisations, both here and
overseas, are demanding that room be made for human rights
monitoring in the context of the September peace negotiations
between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the
Sri Lankan government.
Sri Lanka's
young look out to peace ahead. Credit: The Sunday
Times/Sri Lanka
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Painful
History Behind India’s Official Aloofness
By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI (IPS) - When separatist Tamil Tigers rebels
sit down to talk peace with the Sri Lankan government
in Thailand on Sep. 16, there will be no Indian representative
around - a reflection of the country's studied aloofness
to the 19-year-old ethnic conflict on the island nation
off its southern tip.
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Thailand
Looks for a Relevant Role in Talks
By Kavi Chongkittavorn
BANGKOK (The Nation/IPS) - As the Sri Lanka peace
talks get underway next week, the Thai government has
yet to figure out its role other than to provide the
venue for the direct discussions between Colombo and
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sattahip
naval base east of this city. |
Credit:
The Sunday Times/Sri Lanka
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Business:
Better Late than Never
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO (IPS) - When widespread rioting against minority
Tamils broke out in July 1983, a top Sri Lankan minister shook
his head in despair and said: ''There goes our dream of being
another Singapore.''
Credit:
The Sunday Times/Sri Lanka
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Peace
Promises Economic Dividends
By Feizal Samath
PULMODDAI, Sri Lanka - Wasantha Anurakumara has to
only take a few steps on this beach along Sri Lanka's
north-east coast to come across the rich minerals that
give the fine grain sand a black hue. |
Ceasefire
Draws Foreign Investors Back
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka - With the
guns of war stilled and the prospects for peace bright, investor
interest is again being drawn to the deep, calm waters of
Trincomalee, one of the world's greatest natural harbours
on Sri Lanka's east coast.
Tigers
Have Still to Come Clean on Human Rights
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - While the Tamil Tigers have convinced the world
that they are keen to talk peace with the Sri Lankan government,
they have hardly been convincing on another front: grappling
with their Achilles heel -- human rights.
Peace
Comes at a Price in War-torn East
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka - The pace at which teenage children
pedal their bicycles to school and the office workers head
home after a hard day's labour projects an air of peace in
this town on Sri Lanka's eastern coast.
Anxious
Mothers Get Some Respite
KANDY, Sri Lanka - Visakha Dharmadasa dreads the knock on
the door or the midnight telephone call. ''Families like us
shudder when a policeman comes to our doorstep or when there
is a call at night. We fear it is about our sons. It is absolute
trauma.''
Peace
Train Carries Hopes, Doubts
COLOMBO - Children waved, and women washing clothes on stones
alongside village streams looked up with amusement, while
rice farmers with sarongs tucked at their waists raised their
heads as Sri Lanka's first peace train chugged toward the
north of this island nation in May.
Rebel
Leader Says Right Words, but Real Test is Ahead
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - Most Sri Lankans agree that Velupillai Prabhakaran,
leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, made the right statements
about peace in his first press conference in 12 years in April,
but continue to wonder whether he can really be trusted this
time. |
