By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Sep 13 2006 (IPS)

The euphoria was short-lived. On Wednesday, the Sri Lankan government formally shot down hopes for a quick solution to escalating violence on the island by denying statements made by Norwegian mediators that spoke of unconditional talks with Tamil Tiger rebels early October in Oslo to restore the February 2002 ceasefire.

"The government of Sri Lanka is highly disturbed with regard to the statement made by the Norwegian facilitator, as the government neither agreed for unconditional talks nor was consulted. Thus the co-chairs, the international community and the general public have been misled," the government said in a statement.

The announcement of talks and its refutation by the government comes amidst warnings by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as the Tamil Tigers are officially known, of carrying on the war, currently concentrated in Tamil-dominated areas in the north and east to areas inhabited largely by the Sinhalese majority in the south. ‘&#39I am afraid there is a possibility that this will turn into a full-scale war," LTTE spokesman S. P. Tamilselvan said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Within the context of the military offensives by the Sri Lankan armed forces and their continuing forced occupations of the Tamil homeland, we do consider that the CFA (ceasefire agreement) has become meaningless," Tamilselvan was quoted as saying in the pro-LTTE portal TamilNet.com.

‘&#39Opportunities for talks will be stronger when the army ends its military attacks,&#39&#39 Tamilselvan, who is head of the LTTE&#39s political wing said, adding that the LTTE for its part was ready to hold discussions with the government.

The Norwegian statement issued in Brussels on Tuesday said: "The co-chairs welcome the expression of willingness of the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to come to talks unconditionally as conveyed to the facilitator. The parties should cease all violence immediately. The parties should use this opportunity to show maximum flexibility regarding the arrangements to be proposed by the facilitator.&#39&#39

It is possible that the government&#39s hardened stance on Wednesday was influenced by a threat issued by the Tamil Tigers, the second within a week, warning that ships, including those of the Red Cross, supplying the besieged northern Jaffna peninsula could not be guaranteed protection.

Fighting in the Jaffna peninsula over the last few days has claimed more than 200 lives, according to the Sri Lankan army. The fighting in Jaffna follows a month of hard battles in the east in open violation of the ceasefire.

After capturing the strategic eastern port town of Sampur last week, the government announced that it would not push deeper into Tiger areas. Military spokesman and minister Keheliya Rambukwella told diplomats, last week, that the recapture of Sampur was influenced by the strategic importance of the Trincomalee harbour, that the town overlooks, rather than claiming land.

According to the government, as long as Sampur remained in Tiger hands, Sri Lanka&#39s entire wheat supply, 40 percent of fuel supplies provided by Lanka Indian Oil Co. using the Trincomalee oil tank farm and a substantial portion of the cement supply via the Tokyo Cement Co. were at risk. The Tigers had positioned artillery pieces in Sampur and had Trincomalee harbour and surrounding areas within range.

The government said that foreign ships using the harbour had expressed security concerns. "It is in the national interest that every effort is made to neutralize the long-range gun positions of the LTTE located at Sampur," it said.

However, the Tigers say that the operation was nothing more than land grab, putting civilians at risk. During a recent discussion with Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hans Bratskar, Tamilselvan said that the government had violated clauses of the truce agreement by pushing into Sampur.

The truce had demarcated areas that were under the control of the government and the Tigers and both parties had agreed to honour the control lines. "One of the basic requirements of the CFA (ceasefire agreement) is to respect the existing borders of control. The Sampur occupation clearly violates this and therefore, by this occupation the government has brought an end to the CFA. This is how LTTE views the occupation,&#39&#39 Tamilselvan told Bratskar.

"The President is rejoicing over the capture of Sampur, but they have killed 97 civilians, injured 215 and more than 46,000 are displaced in Eechilamptru and Vaharai," Tiger political head in Trincomalee, S. Ellian, told IPS. He said that the Tigers had pulled its cadres back from Sampur, but the government troops had failed to destroy or damage the artillery pieces. "They are not kept in one place, they are moved all the time, they have been moved further south," he said.

Truce monitors, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), said that even before the fall of Sampur the Tigers had conveyed that they wanted the military to pull back. "They have been calling us repeatedly and informing us that they want the army to pull back," spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson said. The monitors, however, do not have access to the areas of fighting due to security risks. While the fighting was going on, the Tigers had warned that if government troops entered Sampur, they would pull out of the ceasefire. "We will never admit that Sampur has fallen, if the army takes over, we will pull out of the ceasefire," Tiger military spokesman I. Illanthariyan said.

The ceasefire, facilitated by the Norwegians, halted sectarian violence between the majority Sinhala community and the ethnic Tamils, dating back to the early 1980s. More than 66,000 people have died in the conflict.

According to the SLMM, more than 1,000 people have been killed in the recent spate of violence in Sampur and Muttur towns that also forced some of the SLMM district offices to be closed down. U.N. agencies said last week that more than 230,000 persons have been forced to flee their homes due to the violence. The government nevertheless, is unlikely to yield to pressure from the Tigers to withdraw from Sampur.

"We are ready for any game. We knew we can do it and we did it," Capt. S Ranasinghe from the Special Forces of the Sri Lanka army said, last week, in Sampur.

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