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Lankan civil war looks more threatening than befor
e
COLOMBO May 13: Nearly lour weeks after Sri Lanka s truce collapsed the 12-year civil war looks more threaten ing than it did before the gov eminent s peace initiative be gan. reports AP
Ethnic Tamil rebels have escalated the fighting, introducing surface to air missiles and deploying scuba-diving suicide bombers to sink two warships Military intelligence warns the guerillas could be preparing to use chemical weapons
Western diplomats say the use missiles by what was once a ragtag guerilla army changes the tactical and strategic Im-plications of the war in this is land nation off the southern tip of India
President Chandrika Kumar at unga. who was elected
Iasi vear after campaigning against the previous govern ment s refusal to talk with the rebels, persuaded the Tigers to begin peace talks with a promise of Tamil autonomy
But a three-month cease fire broke down April 19 after four rounds of negotiations
The missile attacks, which shot down two transport planes and killed 90 people forced the government to ground most of Its air forte
For years. most of the fighting has been contained in the north and east leaving tlie Industrial south at peace to prosper on the strength of foreign investment
Now the government is warning that the rebels could revive a campaign of terror In Colombo Thousands of Tamils
have been detained and questioned since the truce col-lapsed and military check ls have been set up across the city
On Thursday a ban went into effect against small vessels entering the harbour for fear that they could be used as floating bomb platforms to de Stroy ships.
The president has accused the rebels of planning to assassinale her When she travelled to India earlier this month, she secretly boarded an Air Lanka flight to Dubai and London and diverted it to New Delhi to let tier off
Tlw lOO-dav cease fire ap pears io have benefited rebel leader Velupillali Prabhakaran and left Ms Kurnaratunga open to criticism for being too at commodaung and falling to re
build her forces — as the guerillas apparently did.
The Tigers had scored some notable successes before tlie cease-fire began January 8.
In September 1993. they blocked a major army drive "from the Elephant Pass base toward the rebel stronghold of jaffna city, killing 120 sol diers
Two months later the rebels attacked Pooneryn. a key military base controlling access to the rebel-held peninsula across the Jaffna Lagoon They killed or captured 750 soldiers, and though they lost nearly as many of their own fighters, they seized a lot of army and naval equipment
A rebel suicide unit struck terror In the navy last September by destroying Its
largest ship off the northwestern coast
In the peace talks. Kurnaratunga s negotiators went a long way to meet rebel demands. The government partially lifted an economic embargo on Jaffna Peninsula, eased restrictions on fishing, announced a dlrs 40 billion reconstruction programme for the war-ravaged north.
But that was not enough to keep Prabhakaran at the peace table. He refused to discuss a political settlement to the war unless the government dismantled the Pooneryn base and allowed armed guerillas to move freely through the east, an area where they lost much of their control two years ago
Many analysts conclude that Prabhakaran agreed to the cease-fire only to rebuild his
forces. as he also did during truces In 1985 and 1990
The Tigers used every subterfuge and strained every sinew to obstruct the commencement of a political dialogue." Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte told a special session of Parliament on Friday
Ratwatte said the govern ment remained committed to negotiating a peace
Many countries. Including the United States and China, have criticised ■ the rebels for breaking the truce and urged, them to return to the negotlat ing table
But intelligence reports say the Insurgents are now build Ing up forces for an assault on either the Pooneryn bate or the Elephant Paas camp