ENB14012008:Abrogating CFA and after

Abrogating CFA: GROBR
At last, GoSL got the courage to abrogate the CFA. We congratulate the Government for its bold step albeit delayed. Dollar vultures like Human Rights Watch has already started its campaign to install a UN monitoring Mission in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a Sovereign State and INGOs and NGOs cannot dictate terms to us as to how to run our country. Therefore, the GoSL should not be perturbed over their campaign but stick to protecting our country's sovereignty and not allow any UN ‘humanitarian organization’ to plant their office in Sri Lanka. It will end up as another biased UN Office, UNICEF or UNESCO trying to interfere with our internal affairs.
Malin Abeyatunge

Market prices driven by cartels, monopolies
by Devan Daniel

Senior statisticians of the Department of Census and Statistics said that market prices, to a great extent, do not depend on demand and supply, but that certain individuals were controlling the markets and manipulating prices.
Oil prices, world food prices, bad weather, political instability affect price changes, but it is the demand and supply mechanism which determine prices on a daily basis.
Over the years, they had noticed prices varying from 30 to 100 percent between the major market centres in the Greater Colombo area when they carried out surveys for the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI).
"It was shocking to see that certain varieties of fish were priced twice as much, say in Maradana, than for the same fish in Pettah on a single day," one statistician said. "It became clear to us in our surveys over the years that vegetables and other produce were haphazardly priced as well," he said.
According to them, this trend still continues. Trade is controlled through a single party at the supply level, which means that local producers often part with their produce for a price much lower than that sold in Colombo.
Why not go public with their findings? Being government servants, they said that they could not highlight these anomalies. But they said it was a well-known fact. Monopolists and cartels running the show from behind have political backing – another known fact, they said.
Apart from inflation, these market racketeers add to the difficulties faced by consumers.
These humble government servants cannot fight the system. But they do have some sound advice to offer:
Consumers should pick and choose what to buy and when to buy. "We often see consumers paying a high price for fish and vegetables in one marketplace, while the prices may be less in another marketplace. This should not happen. If consumers wish to save, they should compare prices at different marketplaces," they said. But that is time-consuming,
They said substituting is another tool consumers can use to their advantage. For example, if certain fish are priced too high, go for the cheaper varieties. Always look for a cheaper substitute. If carrots are too expensive, go for potatoes. "Consumers should make smart choices," statisticians said.
These methods of selection will affect prices in markets where prices are abnormally high, and eventually force the manipulators to reduce their prices, in turn.

Indo-Lanka accord is the best solution to Sri Lankan
issue – President Rajapaksa Sunday, January 13, 2008, 16:25 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 13, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the India-Sri Lanka agreement signed in 1987 was the best solution for the country’s ethnic issues, saying that then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi 'had a vision'.
“He (Gandhi) was a great leader, who knew what was going on here (in Sri Lanka),” Rajapaksa said in an interview with ‘Walk the Talk’ programme on NDTV. “India knows the mentality of the LTTE and can put pressure on it,” he explained.
When asked if the Indians saw him as a hawk and if they distrusted him, President Rajapaksa said earlier they did, because of the propaganda of some Sri Lankan politicians opposed to him.
“Now they understand me better than earlier. They know who Mahinda Rajapaksa is,” he said.
The Sri Lankan president said that if then President R. Premadasa had not sent the IPKF away, (in March 1990) the LTTE could have been defeated. Another three or four months of fighting would have seen the end of the Tigers, he said.
Rajapaksa said that initially, the IPKF had indeed underestimated the Tigers. Later, they did acquire the capability to tackle the Tigers. But it was then that President Premadasa asked them to quit the island. The job was left unfinished, he said.

Government Explains why their Annul CFA
(January, 04, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)

The Government of Sri Lanka yesterday (3rd January 2008) formally notified the Royal Norwegian Government of its decision to terminate the Agreement on a “Ceasefire (CFA) between the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” concluded on 22nd February 2002, said Foreign Minster Rohitha Bogollaga in a statement.
“This notification was in terms of Article 4:4 of this Agreement and will take effect 14 days from the date of this notice i.e. 16th January 2008’, he said.
Accordingly, the Status of Mission Agreement (SOMA) on the Establishment and the Management of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) dated 18th March 2002 between the Royal Norwegian Government and the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka will also stand terminated with effect from 16th January 2008, he added.
The decision of the Government to terminate the Ceasefire Agreement has been taken after very careful consideration of all relevant facts.
Firstly, it must be underlined that this Agreement with the LTTE was seriously flawed from the very inception. It was entered into without proper consultation by the Government of the day, with even the Cabinet of Ministers not being privy to its contents. Legitimate concerns of the security forces had not even been taken into account. It had the effect of alienating the democratic Tamil political forces and focussed solely on the LTTE. However, notwithstanding these shortcomings evidently made in the hope that sustainable peace could be achieved, at no stage in its six rounds of talks from Sept 2002- March 2003 with the then Government did the LTTE seek to engage in any substantive political discussion aimed at moving towards a political settlement.
On the contrary, under the cover of the CFA, the LTTE continued to take strategic advantage on the ground as they had in all previous peace processes,seeking to dominate areas such as Sampur, as well as continuing to smuggle in large hauls of lethal arms, explosives and ammunition. It must be noted that it is during this period that the LTTE most brazenly assassinated among others, the serving Foreign Minister, moderate Tamil Member of Parliament, Lakshman Kadirgamar on 12th August 2005 and eliminated many of Sri Lanka’s intelligence officers through attacks including in Kiribathgoda, Dehiwala, Bambalapitiya and Jaffna.
Secondly, despite the LTTE launching a wave of attacks against the security forces only 14 days after the assumption of office by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in November 2005, every effort was made by the new Government to engage in political negotiations with the LTTE, which had unilaterally pulled out of the peace process since April 2003. This included two rounds of talks held in Geneva and technical talks scheduled in Oslo. Infact, in Oslo, the LTTE delegation having arrived in the city, refused to show-up for negotiations, once again underlying its lack of commitment to the Peace Process. The LTTE spurned all opportunities at discussing the core issues aimed at arriving at a political settlement, and continued its duplicitous action of escalating the violations of the CFA. Notwithstanding LTTE attacks on the Army Commander, Secretary Defence and the assassination of Major General Parami Kulatunge, the third highest ranking officer in the Sri Lanka Army, the Deputy Secretary General of the Government Peace Secretariat Ketheshwaran Loganathan in August 2006 and numerous attacks targeting innocent civilians including bus bombings in Kebitigollawa, NIttambuwa, Seenigama and Cheddikulum, the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa remained steadfast in its efforts to seek an honourable peace with the LTTE, even as it pursued negotiations on a political settlement with all political parties represented in the Parliament through the APRC process. It should be noted that it was only following the LTTE blocking of water supply to the East at the Mavilaru anicut, that the Government was compelled to undertake military operations against the LTTE in order to protect the civilian population and vital strategic assets including the Trincomalee Port.
Thirdly, it must be noted that throughout the period of the CFA, protestations by GOSL to the Norwegian Government as well as to the SLMM, about the increased illegal activities of the LTTE under the cloak of the CFA including development of its air wing and unabated child recruitment by the LTTE amounting to 1743 cases as ruled by the SLMM as at 30 April 2007, were to go unheeded. In addition to the LTTE’s thousands of ceasefire violations already committed, by its stepping up of deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of civilians including women and children in recent weeks including bomb blasts in Nugegoda, Kebitigollawa, Slave Island as well as the killing of UNP Parliamentarian T. Maheswaran on the first day of the New Year and the failed assassination attempt using a paraplegic female suicide cadre on Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda last month, it becomes ominous that the LTTE seeks to continue to engage in provocative activities that could create unrest in the South, making a mockery of the CFA.
In the meantime, I wish to underline that the termination of the CFA does not in anyway hamper the process of moving towards a negotiated political settlement. In fact, it gives us broader space to pursue this goal in a manner that involves all sections of the Sri Lankan polity, which remained sidelined due to the CFA, an agreement solely between the Government and the LTTE. As stated by His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 26 December 2007 in Matara, the doors remain open for the LTTE to join this process. It should be recalled that the Thimpu Talks of 1985, the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987, the 1990 talks between President Premadasa and the LTTE, as well as talks between President Kumaratunga’s administration and the LTTE in 1994, were not done with the presence of a CFA.
The Government of Sri Lanka will, while dealing militarily to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from our land, will spare no effort in our bid to arrive at a practical and sustainable political settlement. In doing so, our Government is conscious that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution signed following the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987 itself, is yet to be fully implemented.
The Government is appreciative of the Norwegian facilitators and the SLMM as well as the role played by the co-chairs in their efforts to assist the peace process in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka while reiterating its sincere commitment to a negotiated political settlement through an inclusive process which includes all minority groups of Sri Lanka, will look forward to the support of the International Community, as we work towards securing a sustainable peace.

Editorial
National interest or political expediency?

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama has predictably denied that the government’s decision to withdraw from the Ceasefire Agreement of February 2002 had anything to do with appeasing the JVP and the JHU. Given the voting on the budget at both the second and third readings, it is obvious that the support of these parties with a hard-line approach to the National Question is essential for the administration’s survival in parliament. This is arithmetic that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, an adroit mover of pawns on the political chessboard, well understands. As long as his government was not at risk, he ignored the rhetoric of both his red brothers whom he freely admitted helped elect him president and the Buddhist monks. The budget voting made the risk he faces glaringly obvious and Rajapaksa has done what he believes he had to do. From the country's perspective, the sad aspect of this development is that political expediency continues to subordinate the national interest.
The CFA has been a dead letter for the past many months with neither the government nor the military heeding their obligations under a deal put together by the Norwegian facilitator when Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe was prime minister during the Chandrika Kumaratunga presidency. After maneuvering CBK into a minority in parliament, the UNP forced an election it won. Thereafter it was important to demonstrate a peace dividend to the voter and that was what was done through the CFA. After many long years of war, the country benefited hugely both on the `feel good’ factor as well as from the economic spin-off. Roadblocks were removed, there was free movement to all parts of the island and people from the south began visiting Jaffna in large numbers. In the peninsula itself, decades of scarcity and privation ended. The north and the east began contributing to the national economy and Wickremesinghe, unarguably an able administrator with a vision for the country, started doing some of the many things necessary to put the nation on an even keel and on the road to realizing its undoubted potential.
But everything was not lovely in the garden. The LTTE slowly but surely began exploiting the many advantages that was theirs in terms of the hastily cobbled CFA. Provision for unarmed Tiger cadres to move into government-controlled areas, ostensibly for ``political work,’’ opened wide doors to reverse military gains such as control of the Eastern Province. Moreover, the East provided Prabhakaran a whole new recruiting ground which was avidly seized. Moving men and war material to the southern and central areas became easy in the demilitarized climate of the day and the Tigers, who have never seriously contemplated any solution short of separation to the National Question, began preparing the ground for a war at a time of their choosing. Ominously, the Trincomalee harbour was being encircled as the then ex-Foreign Minister Laskhman Kadirgamar tirelessly tried to sock into the national psyche. He also conveyed this message to his friends abroad.
The weaknesses of the CFA and the advantages it conferred on the LTTE, always intent on the separatist goal at the cost of the blood of its own people and that of the adversary, became self-evident. It is not only Ranil Wickremesinghe who can play chess. CBK, licking her wounds in the presidential palace she occupied as the country’s executive head, was not content playing second fiddle to a prime minister who enjoyed real power despite the muscle vested in the executive presidency by JRJ. She made her own moves. The first of these was the takeover of some key ministries – defence, interior (responsible for the police) and media. She then prorogued parliament and using the power of the presidency that Jayewardene clothed himself with, dissolved the legislature and called an election ensuring that the JVP would fight on her side. Her calculations proved correct and she had both the presidency and the parliamentary majority under her belt. The JVP too gained more seats than it could have won on its own steam and with it a balance of power capability.
Kumaratunga did not willingly choose Mahinda Rajapaksa as her prime minister. She also did not reckon that the Supreme Court would abbreviate her second term she had expected to extend through a self-serving provision JRJ, the twentieth century fox, had written into the constitution for his own benefit. If the Bandaranaike dynasty could not continue through brother Anura, many observers believe that Chandrika would have preferred a Ranil Wickremesinghe presidency to that of the yokel from Meda Mulana. But Prabhakaran did not want Wickremesinghe and for reasons that yet remain unclear, he facilitated Rajapaksa’s election by ensuring that a large number of Tamils in areas he controlled or influenced did not vote. Rajapaksa as president and C-in-C is now gearing to take the war to the Wanni in the coming weeks, building up to a big putsch that will surely be bloody and cause more misery for the poor on both sides of the lines. Remember it is the poor who join the army for lack of any other employment and it is the poor who are coerced into Tiger forces. It is the poor also who swell the ranks of the IDPs.
The CFA served no purpose for a long time and both the government and the LTTE knew that very well. Both sides did their own thing reducing the Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, emasculated to just Norwegians and Icelandic monitors by the Tigers following the EU ban on them, to a mere recorder of violations. But neither side wanted to use the provision to withdraw from the CFA until the question of a parliamentary majority forced the president’s hand. The repercussions were predictable. Influential international players whose friendship is important to Sri Lanka have slammed us in diplomatic language. India has not publicly shown her hand but has conveyed her feelings to the government. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not be here for 60th Independence Anniversary celebrations. Diplomats are ferreting around to find out if there are any other reasons than the JVP for what the government has done. So far they have drawn a blank.
It is crystal clear that the big putsch would be possible with a dead CFA existing only on paper. The government did not abrogate it when Lakshman Kadirgamar was killed; nor did Prabhakaran when the SLAF got Tamilchelvan. Colombo’s decision was taken with the full knowledge of international displeasure – a clear case of political expediency overriding the national interest. What price we will pay remains an open question.

No impact on battlefield from government’s withdrawal from CFA

By Our Defence Correspondent What impact will the abrogation of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) have on the battlefield? Absolutely none.
The government’s strange decision to withdraw from the CFA at this time means absolutely nothing. Eelam War IV has been raging for more than two years now, with thousands killed on both sides.
The government’s decision in fact has little to do with realities of the war. It is clearly a political move to appease the hard-line political parties – the JVP and the JHU – which have been capitalising on the government’s reluctance to abrogate the CFA up to now.
In fact, the decision had little to do with the bomb blast at Slave Island on the 2nd of January. Far worse acts of violence have been committed by the LTTE over the last two years, including the blasting of a civilian bus in Kebithigollewa which killed 84 people.
This week’s violence in Colombo also has little impact on the course of the war. The killing of UNP MP T. Maheswaran, although initially blamed on the LTTE by top police officials, does not bear the hallmarks of the Tigers’ Pistol Group. The fact that the assassin was wounded and captured speaks volumes with regard to this, since it is most unlikely that an LTTE cadre would allow himself to be captured.
In the end, the assassination will merely go down as yet another assassination, added to the long list of dozens of Members of Parliament and other political leaders who have fallen to the assassin’s bomb or bullet in the country’s torturous political history, starting with Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah who was personally shot dead by LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in 1975, or even earlier with the assassination of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.
The bomb blast in Slave Island also means little in the long term, apart from the carnage that it caused to innocent civilians and soldiers.
The end of the CFA does not mean the end of the peace process. A peace process can be re-started at any time, regardless of the war situation. The only requirement is that both sides must be willing to talk.
The government has not yet decided to ban the LTTE. However, such a move, if it is ever decided upon, is also not one that will have much impact on the battlefield. At present, anyone suspected of being an LTTE cadre is arrested by the armed forces or police, anywhere in the country. Being a member of an LTTE that is banned will be no different, except that the very act of being a member will become a punishable offence with a small jail term which at present it is not.
Much more serious is the pullout of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), with the lapse of the CFA as their mandate will end. What this means is that there will not be any international body to document atrocities and incidents committed by either side. The SLMM has not been actively investigating every reported incident, but has continued to document incidents.
With the end of the CFA and the withdrawal of the SLMM, the role of the Norwegian government may or may not diminish further. However, this too is entirely dependent on the two sides – the government and the LTTE. If both sides request that Norway try to broker another truce or attempt to restart negotiations, we may see their active involvement again. Certainly, their knowledge of Sri Lanka’s conflict over the years puts them in a more advantageous position to assist as facilitators than most other countries.
The CFA itself died a few days after the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse, when the LTTE launched a series of attacks in the Northeast. Despite the continued attacks, the government waited more than three months without responding, hoping that the Tigers would come back to the negotiating table. It was only when the Commander of the Army, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, was critically wounded in a suicide bomb blast at Army Headquarters, that the government struck back. Even then, it was only through selective air strikes on LTTE targets.
However, things changed when the LTTE took control of the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru tank in the Trincomalee District, and refused to release water for Sinhala and Muslim paddy farmers in the area. Under pressure with the JHU leading a protest march into the area, the government launched an army operation to recapture the area.
The Tigers responded by attacking Muttur town, and shelling Army, Navy and Air Force installations in Trincomalee town, including the harbour. With artillery shells falling all around, the government moved to retake Muttur, and then drove the Tigers out of Sampur, where the Tigers’ heavy guns were based.
When the LTTE cadres retreated southwards to Vakarai in the Batticaloa District, the Army moved to quash them from north and south. The heavy fighting which involved this operation took several months, and the Tigers retreated further to Thoppigala (Baron’s Cap). The army followed, and Thoppigala was taken only last June.
More operations followed to drive the LTTE out of the entire Eastern Province. But by the time the armed forces turned their attention to the North, the Northeast Monsoon was about to break, and major operations proved impossible. Several half-hearted attempts to gain ground in the Vavuniya area ended in deadlock. Although some ground has been gained around Mannar, there is still no major threat to the LTTE stronghold in the Wanni.
Through all this, the CFA continued to be in existence only as a worthless scrap of paper.
The million-dollar question that remains unanswered is: Why did the government really withdraw from the CFA at this present time?
That is, apart from the obvious reason of appeasing the JVP and JHU. Viewed in the context of statements by the top political leaders and army top brass that they will wipe out the LTTE in 2008, it is clear that the abrogation of the CFA is a precursor to a massive ground assault on the Tigers in the Wanni, backed by air attacks.
This operation has been a long-time coming. As this column pointed out last July, the slow progress in the East over 18 months of warfare meant that the army’s attention was finally turned to the North only shortly before the Northeast Monsoon was about to break. So operations conducted there so far have been on a smaller scale.
But now, with the monsoon easing up, and expected to end completely in about a week, the way is clear for a massive attack on the weakened Tigers. There will then be at least nine months of almost continuous good weather over the North, which means that the time has come for the army to turn its words into action.
With overwhelming air and seapower, as well as a huge numerical advantage, all odds are massively in favour of the armed forces. However, the Tigers have had many months to prepare their defences and contingency plans. What this means is that the advance is likely to be slow, through heavily mined and boobytrapped areas. 2008 may turn out to be a very bloody year in the North for both sides and for civilians.
On the other hand, the Tigers are surrounded on all sides. It is simply impossible to defend the Wanni from a multi-pronged assault. If the top brass use their imagination and move in on many fronts, instead of concentrating on one side, then the war could be effectively over in a couple of months.

Emergency passed – 103/ 15
Emergency was passed with 88 majority votes today. The JVP supported the extension of emergency while the TNA opposed it. The UNP abstained from voting. The SLMC members were not present in the House by the time the vote was taken.

JVP thanks Govt. for abrogating CFA
by Wijitha Nakkawita and Lakshmi de Silva

JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Wimal Weerawansa yesterday thanked the Government for abrogating the cease fire agreement.
The UNF Government had entered into the agreement with the LTTE without showing a copy of the agreement to the Cabinet of ministers, the Executive President or other stakeholders, he said.
Right from the beginning, the JVP had rejected this agreement and showed on numerous occasions that it would not bring any political or economic dividends favourable to the country, he said.
"But some had depicted the agreement as a panacea for all ills. Some said the economy of this country had gained and went to the extent of claiming that Buddhists had been able to worship at the Somawathie Chaitiya thanks to the agreement entered into between the UNF Government and the LTTE. The biggest joke, as now we can see, is that none of these so called gains were new and nothing positive had been achieved through this move," he said.
"The agreement gave legal recognition to a terrorist outfit, which in return had been able to eliminate their political enemies as well a large number of security force personnel. A large number of camps of the security forces had been withdrawn and the troops were confined to their camps. The LTTE had been given space and freedom to set up a large number of camps around the Trincomalee Harbour. It was strengthened in all aspects thanks the ceasefire agreement. The ceasefire agreement should have been dumped years ago. The Government has taken a wise decision to abrogate it. Now we could say that it’s better late than never," he said.

TULF leader welcomes CFA abrogation
Sunday, 06 January 2008 Veerasingam Anadasangaree, the leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and for a long time the lone Tamil voice of objection to the LTTE, has welcomed the decision to abrogate the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). Newspaper sources claim that Mr. Anandasangaree has said that the agreement only helped the LTTE to expand its terrorist activities and to blindfold the international community, adding that 'the CFA should have been scrapped when the LTTE went beyond its limits'. "The CFA was introduced to streamline the peace process. Not only Sri Lankans even the international community expected the CFA to work effectively. But the LTTE had committed the bulk of the CFA violations. The CFA allowed the organisation to carry out the political activities in the cleared areas. But instead of concentrating on political matters, the outfit was planning its war strategies within the cleared areas to launch its attacks against the Security Forces," the veteral TULF politician said. He also accused the Norwegian facilitators of failing to intervene effectively when the LTTE began violating the CFA. Mr. Anandasangaree did not have kind words for the ceasefire monitors either: "The Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was bullied, insulted and intimidated in the areas it functioned. Hence, the Scandinavians were in a helpless situation in implementing the CFA."
"I believe the CFA collapsed within a year of its introduction. The agreement was a farce and lost its credibility soon after the peace talks came to a standstill in April 2006 in Geneva."
Mr. Anadasangaree however insisted that the Government should explore new avenues in re-launching the peace process: "The ultimate solution to the Tamil crisis could only be brought about through political means and not by military means. Therefore, I consider the abrogation of the CFA is nothing but unmasking the LTTE," the TULF leader said.

LTTE is supported by weapons from communist China ?
By Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne

As expected the US will slash military aid to the Mahinda regime and in the wake of this action of the US Congress and Senate, the Sri Lankan government will look elsewhere for support. No doubt, with the well wishers of the reactionary sections of the US administration.
In Lakbimanews, Ranga Jayasuriya says “It is not only the Russians, who are making a foray into the Sri Lankan arms market. Pakistan has increased its annual assistance loan by US $ 31 million dollars. This will increase the total annual Pakistani assistance to US $ 80 million dollars. Meanwhile, India has also offered a US $ 100 million dollar credit line to Sri Lanka for the procurement of military supplies from India.”
Pressure
These then are the supporters and providers for the "desapremi" war of Wimal Weerawansa, for the sake of which they supported the government. Mind you, the Bush administration was forced to back out because of the pressure exerted by the newly elected US Congress. So, however much Wimal screams and shouts about the imperialist forces that are trying to undermine the good efforts of the patriotic war, they are the real friends of the Mahinda regime at this moment of need.
In his budget debate speech on Dec 14 Wimal said, “Russia has developed its power under Putin’s anti imperialist leadership with more than 60 % of the people’s mandate.” The JVP leaders are so politically blind to classify Putin’s dictatorial capitalist leadership which won elections with terror and other misdeeds directed mainly against Russian Communists, as an anti imperialist force.
Against Communists and Liberals
Putin’s anti western saber rattling is directed not against any Yankee power but against the Communists and the Liberals of Russia, who wanted a democratic election. In spite of all the hesitations, Russia is a loyal member of the G 8, the global political leadership.
On the other hand, who is supporting the Tamil Tigers? How do they get sophisticated weapons? Again, I should turn to Ranga for valuable information. He says “Most weapons - barring the US made HOLO SIGHT Target Acquisition Systems and the Singapore made CIS 40 grenade launchers - are of Chinese origin.”
He further says, “However according to Sri Lankan military sources, North Korea may be involving transshipment of Chinese made weapons to the LTTE. Cash strapped North Korea may procure and resell Chinese weapons. — The LTTE’s arsenal consists mainly of Chinese made weapons.”
Those are the facts. But according to the JVP, China is a genuine communist country “with feelings for common collective property and with central planning”. North Korea is openly anti American.
Support of US aid
Now the problem before the JVP theoreticians is to explain how the patriotic war, so vehemently supported by them was conducted almost totally with the support of US aid until the radical US Congress put a restriction, and thereafter with the support of another set of reactionary governments, while the LTTE aggression is supported by weapons from communist China smuggled through clandestine communist routes.
Not even the leaders of the JVP can eat the cake and have it. Until the facts are clear the JVP leaders were able to dupe the Sinhala youth with a strange mixture of Sinhala chauvinism and anti imperialism. Learned illiterates like Dr Gunadasa Amarasekara were helping them in this folly. It is useless blaming foreign powers when the problem is clearly internal.
The unpardonable fact is that the Tamil demand for equality, autonomy and the right to self-determination is just and fair. We can sell our country to foreign powers and make the Tamil homeland a man-made desert.
In fact, we are on the way and we are told that there is only a little more to go. That little more could be the bloodiest. What will happen after that? Will Douglas, Ananda Sangari and the Karuna faction agree to live under the Sinhala Buddhist unitary republic?
What will happen to all those who disagree and continue the agitation? On the other hand can the government come out with a political solution, facing the threat of the Sinhala chauvinist uprising led by Champika and Wimal, backed by a military conspiracy?

No date could be specified for final proposals
APRC Chairmanby Lynn Ockersz

The APRC is meeting regularly to finalize some outstanding issues in its deliberations to put into shape its final proposals as quickly as possible, although no definite date could be specified as to when this could be achieved, APRC Chairman and Science and Technology Minister Prof. Tissa Vitarana told the 'Sunday Island'.
The APRC Chairman said that there was no truth in reports that the APRC was to meet in a "special session" yesterday (January 5). What was to take place yesterday was a meeting of the Politburo of the LSSP and not an
APRC "special session", the Minister clarified.
The APRC Chairman also said that the APRC had so far finalized the central government and provincial lists of subjects to be devolved. The forum is in the process of finalizing the local government list. The province would remain the unit of devolution, he explained.
Earlier, addressing the weekly Cabinet briefing on January 3, Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said that the government remained committed to pursuing a political solution to the conflict, despite the government abrogating the ceasefire agreement.
"The government would push ahead with renewed vigour to achieve peace through the APRC process," the Minister had explained. "All democratic forces will be consulted in reaching a solution acceptable to all communities", he said.
LTTE warns of escalation, to 'demonstrate' military strength
Colombo (PTI): Unfazed by the recent reverses, the Tamil Tigers today hinted an escalation in their military offensive against the Sri Lankan government even as they accused India and other countries of being "indecisive" in taking a stand on the ethnic strife in the island country.
"Only the demonstration of military strength by the Tigers can bring clarity to the situation and get them (the international community) to correctly relate their interests and assertively engage in the crisis," senior LTTE member considered the outfit's ideologue K. Balakumaran told the 'National Television of Tamileelam (NTT)'.
The warning by LTTE, which has been dealt crucial blows with the killing of its political wing chief S P Thamilselvan and intelligence leader 'Colonel' Charles, came days after the government's decision to withdraw from the Ceasefire Agreement it had entered with the LTTE in February 2002.
Balakumaran said the international community including India have been indecisive in dealing with the Sri Lankan situation. "The international community has been vacillating in taking decisive actions on Sri Lanka because they are unable to relate their own interests to the chaotically unfolding political and military situation in Sri Lanka."
"We expect 2008 will be the year where we can overcome the diplomatic hurdles that confront us," he was quoted as saying by the pro-LTTE website TamilNet.
He claimed that the international community cannot call LTTE "obstinate, or terrorists" as in 2003 it had proposed the Interim Self Governing Authority. "(It is ) our minimal requirement for power-sharing which will satisfy us, he said.
"We expect in 2008, the Tigers will bring clarity to Sri Lanka's conflict," Balakumaran said.

Make devolution offer now, EU tells Sri Lanka
By IANS Monday January 7, 08:56 PM Brussels, Jan 7 (IANS)
The European Union (EU) Monday called upon Sri Lanka to come forward with a 'substantive devolution offer' around which negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) can start as soon as possible.
'For an arrangement to serve as a feasible basis for negotiations, it needs to go beyond past offers and the EU urges both parties to work towards a solution that would bring a peaceful and lasting resolution to the conflict,' the EU said in a statement here.
The 27-nation group also said it 'deeply regrets' Sri Lanka's decision last week to abrogate the 2002 ceasefire agreement with the LTTE.
'This decision and the current military campaign further deteriorate the country's already difficult situation, including the humanitarian and human rights situation.
'Without the ceasefire agreement prospects of negotiating a lasting, peaceful solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka are narrowed further. The EU particularly regrets that the work of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission will be terminated,' it said.
The EU also expressed concern at the LTTE's acts of terror in recent months and 'statements promising further violence from their side'.

14 SLA killed in Mannaar clash - LTTE
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 17:18 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command of Maanaar told media Tuesday that a ground movement by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was thwarted at Mu'l'ikku'lam in Mannaar after 3 hours stiff resistance by the Tigers. Four more SLA soldiers were killed, trapped in a booby trap, while they were retreating with their casualties around 11:00 a.m., the Tigers said. Around 40 SLA troops were wounded, according to the LTTE claim. There were no Tiger casualties, they said. But, the SLA claimed that they had killed six LTTE fighters when the Tigers attempted to enter an area under SLA control.
The SLA claimed to have thwarted "pockets of LTTE resistance" in the area.
The Tigers said the SLA used heavy artillery, including Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir fighters also engaged in air strikes in support of the SLA troop movement.
The SLA pulled back after sustaining heavy casualties, according the LTTE claim.

LTTE readies of all out war
Sunday, January 06,2008 COLOMBO:

The LTTE has ordered Non Governmental Organisation employees to pull out from Mullaitivu and declared the district a high security area as the government hinted at a major military offensive into the Tiger heartland. These developments are taking place as the Sri Lanka Army set up its newest military division, the 59 Division in Weli Oya. The 59 Division established as an offensive formation, is expected to spearhead a military push into the Tiger hinterland in Mullaitivu. According to reports from the Wanni, NGO activists have been told to withdraw from Mullaitivu with effect from December 31.The LTTE has stated that the orders is intended to protect NGO workers from regular air strikes by the Air Force. But, the underlying reason is the fear that the area which was once considered as impregnable could be infiltrated by the LTTE. The LTTE concerns have been compounded by the increasing air strikes on its positions in the area and intelligence sources have revealed heavy fortification of Tiger positions in Weli Oya to deter the advance of the 59 Division.Reports have revealed that a three tiered defence has been built-up by the LTTE, which ewarned that it will bring 'clarity' to the ethnic conflict in 2008 through a demonstration of military strength. The warning came in the backdrop of the government's decision to withdraw from the Ceasefire Agreement entered into with the LTTE in February 2002. Speaking to the 'National Television of Tamileelam (NTT),' senior LTTE member considered the organisation's ideologue, K. Balakumaran had said the international community including India have been indecisive in dealing with the Sri Lankan situation and that only the demonstration of military strength by the Tigers can bring clarity to the situation and get them to correctly relate their interests and assertively engage in the crisis. "The international community has been vacillating in taking decisive actions on Sri Lanka because they are unable to relate their own interests to the chaotically unfolding political and military situation in Sri Lanka. Only the demonstration of military strength by the Tigers can bring clarity to the situation, for the international community to correctly relate their interests, and assertively engage," Balakumaran, was quoted by TamilNet as telling NTT. Commenting on the military offensives launched by the security forces, Balakumaran has said in his view currently the Sri Lankan security forces are trying to enter Pooneryn through the A-32 or use the A-34 to advance through Oddisuddaan. "One of these highways will result in being renamed as the highway of death. Whichever path Sri Lanka chooses to enter into Wanni, they have to directly confront our fighters. As a precursor to the anticipated battle, the SLA is trying to chip away the strength of the LTTE, as well as probing the LTTE strength through small-scale skirmishes at the periphery. We understand their tactics, we haven't underestimated their strength either," Balakumaran had said. The security forces are waiting for an opportune moment to break through a highway. This reminds me of old times; then there was Indian intervention, and currently there is some international intervention; Tiger military resistance eventually determined the conflict resolution phase that followed. We are similarly waiting for the eventual SLA offensive. We are cognisant of the enormity of the possible disaster that can unfold, and bloodbath waiting to happen. Tamil people have no other option, except to face these possibilities. Once the fire of freedom is lit, there is no turning back; sacrifices are part of this decision, and our people fully understand this. We are confident of our strength to achieve our goals, Balakumaran had added. Equating the situation in Sri Lanka to Sudan, Balakumaran further states China tried to deviate from the international community's attempts to resolve the Sudanese situation, but the international community put pressure on China to toe the line. "We expect 2008 will be the year where we can overcome the diplomatic hurdles that confront us. In 2003, we proposed the ISGA (Interim Self Governing Authority) as a framework - our minimal requirement for power-sharing which will satisfy us. So based on this, the international community cannot call us obstinate, or terrorists. Hilary Clinton also identified us when she articulated a more nuanced definition of terrorism. We expect in 2008, the Tigers will bring clarity to Sri Lanka's conflict," Balakumaran had also said.Meanwhile Army Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka said Saturday, the present military operations will not be affected by the false and distorted campaigns carried out by the unpatriotic media or the diplomats, He blamed some media personnel for their highly irresponsible role in reporting on fighting terrorism in the country. Gen. Fonseka said that there were no major obstacles for the military in their operations as these unpatriotic media, non governmental organisations, some diplomats and certain foreign organisations had tried to show the world. "They are trying to distort present military operations to discredit and discourage the military intending that we would give up our offensive in the Wanni. It will never happen as the Sri Lankan military is getting stronger now", he said. The Army Commander said that the Army is five times stronger than earlier and that its defence lines were stronger. According to Gen. Fonseka, the military has the capability to remain in the East while extending the military operations towards the Wanni. He said that East had not been weakened unlike in the past, where the military captured Jaffna using its all resources and abandoning the East. Meanwhile heavy fighting erupted between government troops and LTTE cadres in the Parappakandal area in Mannar, Saturday morning with the military claiming that at least ten Tigers were killed while four soldiers were injured.The fighting began when LTTE cadres attempted to push back troops who have taken control of several areas in Parappakandal but the troops held their ground, the Media Centre for National Security said. But other reports from Mannar said the LTTE had claimed it killed ten soldiers when the troops attempted to advance into the Wanni. Residents in the area said that from early Saturday there were sounds of artillery fire which continued till afternoon.Soldiers also overran separatist Tiger bunkers and traded artillery fire across Sri Lanka - 's embattled north Saturday leaving 26 insurgents dead, the military said Troops destroyed four bunkers in the Nagarkovil and Muhamalai areas of the Jaffna peninsula, killing six Tamil Tiger rebels, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not immediately available for comment. It was not possible to obtain independent confirmation of the clashes because journalists are not allowed in the conflict areas. Both sides often release inflated casualty figures for their opponents while lowering their own. The government announced Thursday it was abandoning a Norway-brokered cease-fire, and European truce monitors subsequently said they planned to leave the war-torn island Jan. 16. The team initially recorded sporadic cease-fire violations, but later acted as one of the few independent observers of the war, with access to both sides and the freedom to investigate reports of civilian casualties. ===========Army bags Pottu Amman’s top aide inside Tiger heartland by Shamindra Ferdinando
Shammuganathan Ravishankar alias Charles widely believed to be a senior deputy to LTTE Intelligence Wing leader Pottu Amman has been killed in an ambush carried out by troops operating ahead of their frontline in the Mannar theatre over the weekend.
Charles, who held the rank of ‘Lieutenant Colonel’ is believed to have been placed in charge of intelligence operations in part of the Vanni region, now under intense pressure by the combined security forces. Troops in ambush in the general north of Mannar have directed a claymore mine blast at a vehicle carrying Charles and three other LTTE cadres. Although the identities of others weren’t known, they were believed to be members of the intelligence wing, the military said.
A well placed security official said Charles had been previously in charge of intelligence operations in Colombo and its suburbs and Kandy. He is believed to have been recalled for deployment in the frontline after a series of failures suffered by the LTTE Intelligence Wing. "We believe he was under investigation over an alleged misappropriation of funds," the official said, asserting that the loss of senior cadres would quicken the collapse of the LTTE.
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa recently told The Island that troops would go for senior cadres while combined security forces slowly but steadily brought more territory under government control.
Although some have identified Charles as Pottu Amman’s deputy, well informed sources said that wasn’t the case.
The LTTE is desperately trying to thwart a relentless ground offensive directed at their bases in Vavuniya and Mannar districts with the elite Special Forces spearheading operations in the Mannar sector. A senior army official said the LTTE had to resist the army advance and launch offensive operation simultaneously vis-a-vis a severe manpower shortage. Over the past several months a large number of infiltrators had been killed across the frontline.
Over 20 LTTE cadres were killed in separate confrontations in the Mannar and Vavuniya sectors on Friday and Saturday as the army turned on the heat on the enemy.

Sri Lankan Army Advances in Jaffna After Rebel Commander Killed
By Paul Tighe and Jay Shankar
Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka's army advanced in the northern Jaffna Peninsula as the military targeted bases held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and killed the group's head of military intelligence.
Soldiers have built new sentry posts on main roads in Jaffna since the government ended its 2002 cease-fire with the LTTE last week, TamilNet reported on its Web site, citing unidentified security officials in Jaffna.
Army units destroyed two LTTE bunkers, killing four rebels, in the Muhamalai district yesterday, the Defense Ministry said on its Web site. Two soldiers died in a second clash in the area yesterday, it said.
The LTTE, which is fighting for a separate homeland in the South Asian island nation, was driven from the eastern region in July last year and now controls areas only in the north. The LTTE intelligence chief was killed yesterday and the government has said rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was wounded in an air raid in November.
Soldiers have been deployed on main roads in Jaffna in the past three days, TamilNet reported. Sri Lanka's army chief said last month the army surrounded the LTTE's bases in the northern Wanni region and halved the rebel force, which now numbers about 3,000 fighters.
Shanmuganathan Ravishankar, the intelligence chief, was killed along with 20 other LTTE members when soldiers ambushed a van in which he was traveling in the Adampan area of Mannar, Defense Ministry spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said yesterday.
Ravishankar was in charge of ``internal intelligence'' of Tamil ground forces and led a combat unit deployed in the Mannar region, TamilNet reported.
Truce Ends
Sri Lanka on Jan. 2 announced it will formally withdraw from the truce accord, saying the Tamil Tigers used the cease- fire to rearm, recruit and prepare attacks. Norway, which brokered the agreement, said it may withdraw international monitors, weakening efforts to protect the civilian population.
The termination of the truce ``gives broader space'' to pursue the goal of reaching a negotiated political settlement to the issue of Tamil separatism, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said Jan. 4, according to a ministry statement. Peace discussions can now include all minority groups of Sri Lanka, the minister said.
Rajapaksa's government says it is prepared to devolve some powers to regions. It rejects any settlement that would divide the country of 20 million people where Tamils make up 11.9 percent of the population and Sinhalese almost 74 percent, according to the 2001 census.
The Tamil Tigers, designated a terrorist group by the U.S., the European Union and India, have been fighting for 24 years in a conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people. The group hasn't commented on the government's decision to end the truce.
Fighting intensified in late 2006 in the country's north and east after two rounds of peace talks failed.
The military's offensives in the north are aimed at forcing the Tamil Tigers to abandon their armed struggle and seek a political solution, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said last month.
===================
FBI seeks support to crackdown LTTE network
by our political correspondent
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), USA's foremost intelligence agency which celebrates its centenary this year has rated the LTTE among the most dangerous and deadliest extremists in the world and has made a global request via its website to coordinate with the agency in cracking down the outfit's covert activities.
The FBI website titled 'Taming the Tamil Tigers' has urged US citizens as well as the international community to be extremely vigilant over the LTTE's fund-raising activities.
The FBI website said that the LTTE had swindled the monetary assistance that flowed from various countries to support the tsunami victims in 2004.
The FBI issuing its warning over LTTE fund-raising said that like other terrorist organisations the LTTE has raised funds under various cover organisations often by posing as charity institutions.
The FBI said that due to the LTTE discreetly raising money to fund its bloody terrorist campaign overseas, including the purchase of weapons and explosives, the US Government has designated the Tigers as a foreign terrorist organisation and their activities here are illegal.
Therefore, the FBI is determined to stop them, using the full range of its investigative and intelligence capabilities. TRO, the LTTE's fund-raising organisation in the name of humanitarian and rehabilitation activities was recently prohibited in the USA and in Sri Lanka following confirmation that the organisation used its funds to procure lethal weapons to support the terrorist war in Sri Lanka.

Maheswaran was a wealthy ship operator
By Shamindra Ferdinando

Thiyagarajah Maheswaran who lost his life to an assassin’s bullet in a Kochchikade Hindu kovil of New Year’s day was a wealthy ship operator ferrying supplies to the Jaffna peninsula in a fleet of four vessels, well informed sources said yesterday.
``In fact his fleet was bigger than that of the Ceylon Shipping Corporation that is now left with only the Lanka Muditha and Lanka Mahapola,’’ this source said.
Although the killer may have been an LTTE operative, the January 1 attack could have been carried out for some other reason, he speculated.
One of the wealthiest politicians in Colombo, he had also formed a company to explore the possibility of supplying arms to the government and had hired some retired forces personnel for this purpose.
While claiming that only arms traders would benefit by the ongoing war, the UNP MP was actively trying to sell armaments to the government, the sources alleged.
Another MP who was a vociferous critic of the government was supportive of the Maheswaran’s endeavour, they further alleged.
These sources hoped the investigators would be able to establish the assassin’s motive and said it would be worth finding out how the capital to fund the slain MPs vast business empire was accumulated.
``The LTTE wouldn’t have allowed him to engage in business, especially ferrying supplies to Jaffna, without collecting a cut,’’ the sources said.
Maheswaran’s enterprise sailed four coasters, Jenclipper, Uniglory, Binhtan and Bagawan with a total tonnage of 6,170 carrying government and private cargo to the Jaffna peninsula.
Except Jenclipper which is 49 meters in length, the rest are 72 meters long.
The sources said that the MP who first entered Parliament from the Jaffna district had at the last parliamentary elections run from the Colombo District due to LTTE threats.

Sri Lanka, India strike deal on Ceylon tea exports
Sri Lanka and India have reached agreement on improving access for the island's exports like tea to the Indian market but have yet to conclude a deal on trade in services, trade officials said.The latest round of talks between the two neighbours on a new trade deal ended in Colombo Friday with both sides agreeing on the draft text of the agreement which will now be sent for legal vetting.
"We more or less cleared the text of the agreement," said Manel de Silva, Sri Lanka's director general of commerce.
"Most of the MRAs (Mutual Recognition Agreements) have been more or less finalized, such as on tea export and harmonization of standards on ayurveda."
An MRA between the tea boards of the two countries would make it easier to ship Ceylon tea to India.
"This is a very major step forward. It will make it easier for our tea to go to India," de Silva said. Under the deal, Indian authorities will accept reports from Sri Lankan laboratories designated by the government, eliminating the need for exporters to send samples abroad for testing.
Teas for export have to be tested to ensure they are free of chemical residues from fertilizer and pesticide application.
Sri Lankan tea exporters are keen on gaining access to the huge Indian market.
Progress in the trade talks has been slow although both governments have professed optimism on a deal.
The proposed bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), an improved version of the existing free trade deal, would improve trade coverage and is meant to extend beyond trade in goods to new areas like services and investment.
But issues relating to trade in services and investment are still being negotiated.
The authorities are considering having a meeting of the commerce secretaries of both countries in March in Colombo where any unresolved issues could be ironed out.
Talks have been delayed over issues related to trade in services as well as reducing the 'negative lists' of products that are not subject to tariff cuts.
India is known to be concerned that the Sri Lankan offer on market access to its services sector was inadequate and not as liberal as its offer in talks at the World trade Organisation..
It has been trying to allay Sri Lankan fears that opening up the services sector would result in the island being swamped by Indian professionals.
Resistance from Sri Lankan professionals, such as lawyers and doctors, who charge high fees, is also holding up the opening up of the services sector. Indian officials have maintained that the booming Indian economy offers enough opportunities on the sub-continent making it unlikely Indian professionals would flood the island.
(LBO)

Lanka, India to fix coal power plant site this month’ Sri Lanka and India will finalize the site for a 500 MegaWatt coal fired joint venture power station this month, energy minister John Seneviratne said.
The Ceylon Electricity Board and India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) are planning to build a 500 MegaWatt coal plant in Trincomalee.
A joint working team will finalize the site this month, and the detailed site studies will begin in 2008, Seneviratne said.
The joint venture plant is scheduled to be completed by 2013.
Seneviratne said an agreement has been sighed with Japan to study the feasibility of natural gas powered generators. Combined-cycle generators (which have coupled gas-turbine and steam stages) could be run on liquid natural gas (LNG). There have been claims that, if a Japanese combined cycle plant could be built in the Kerawalapitiya area it could be run on LNG. (Colombopage)

Coca-cola in mega school promotion
Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Limited the foremost sparking and still drinks manufacturer in the country has kicked started a special promotion to reward the school children of Sri Lanka, recently. Themed as "Coke Back to School Bonus", this exciting campaign will revolve around awarding fabulous scholarships, valuable gift vouchers and other interesting study material to school children between the ages of 13 to 19 years.
Commenting on this mega promotion, Mr. Dusty Alahakoon, Country Marketing Manager for Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd. said, "Supporting education has a very special place in Coca-Cola’s corporate culture. In fact promoting and providing Value Added Education is our core CSR initiative. As a company that understands and endorses the value of education, we thought of carrying-out a special promotion for school chiildren so that they can start the new school year with much enthusiasm and excitement. Coke Back to School Bonus is a result of this thinking."
The promotion is for 1.5 ltr Coke, Fanta, Sprite and Portello PET Platsic bottles and whoever who finds a cash or gift print inside the closure of the bottle will be eligible for a prize. There are over 100,000 prizes to be won in this promotion which is taking place during the exciting December-January festive season and will be in progress through supermarkets and general trade outlets across the island except in the Northern Province.
NDB Bank and Bata have also joined with Coca-Cola as their promotion partners. The grand prize of the promotion would be 10 scholarships worth Rs. 100,000/- each awarded by Coca-Cola. NDB Bank is awarding savings accounts with an initial deposit of Rs. 1,000/- to five thousand lucky winners and Bata will be giving away seven thousand gift vouchers at the rate of Rs. 500/- each. Further, another 10,000 instrument boxes, 20,000 caps and 30,000 book covers, all with Coca-Cola branding are out there to be discovered.
The promotion will be on till the end of January 2008 and lucky winners will be able to collect their prizes till mid February 2008. A special prize distribution will be organized by the company to give away the 10 scholarships.
Coca-Cola is a company that has had many exciting promotions in the past to reward their customers. The Yo-Yo promotion, the Mountain Bike promotion and the Fun Island promotion are a few to name that drew a high consumer response rate. The unique aspect of Coke promotions is that, instead of simply following the wave, the company’s ability to come up with much sought after and timely promotions that actually adds value to consumers’ buying experience.

Of those troubled friends of Lanka
India has announced that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will not grace Sri Lanka’s 60th Independence Day celebrations on Feb. 04. ‘Scheduling difficulties’ and the Prime Minister’s health have been given as the reasons. However, it is being speculated in the diplomatic circles, as we reported yesterday, that the Indian government’s decision could have something to do with issues like the delay on the part of the Sri Lankan government to propose a political solution to the conflict.
Dr. Singh is greatly admired by the people of this country and they would have loved to see him here. (They also adore former President Abdul Kalam and it is unfortunate that India failed to retain the Singh-Kalam combination!) But, if the great man cannot come for whatever reason, so be it! Life must go on. Sri Lanka will have to look for someone else to grace the occasion.
Why do we always fall over ourselves to have foreign dignitaries at our celebrations as chief guests or guests of honour? We can always have for that purpose enough and more Sri Lankans who have done this country proud, can’t we? So, why not invite a religious leader, a physician, an engineer, a scientist, a thinker, a teacher, an artiste, a social worker, a writer, a poet, an entrepreneur, a sportsperson or any other distinguished Sri Lankan to grace the Independence Day celebrations?
Come to think of it, did Sri Lanka really gain independence in 1948? If so, how come some foreign envoys are behaving as if they were viceroys in Colombo? They are nibbling away at this country’s sovereignty. We have some of them disparaging the host country at every turn and telling its governments what to do and how to do it. Put any bloke behind a counter, as Albert Camus said, and he begins to put on airs and graces in no time. So are the foreign diplomats in this country put behind lecterns by their NGO and political lackeys licking their boots, lured by a bone or two or a glass of foreign liquor at cocktail parties and/or funds for their bogus projects. They get too big for their diplomatic boots in no time. Ironically, a wag says, most of them are not even heard of in their own countries and nonentities in their respective foreign offices! (A few years ago, a senior journalist of this newspaper was surprised when a Norwegian he met on his way to Norway didn’t know who Solheim was!)
Sri Lanka has come to such a pass that it cannot at least dump a moribund ceasefire agreement which guarantees the freedom of withdrawal without being criticized by foreign powers for its decision. The US says it is troubled by the government’s decision to abrogate the CFA. Wasn’t the US troubled by the world opinion which was manifestly against its decision to invade Iraq on the false pretext of looking for WMDs? Does it give two hoots about the concerns of the world over its decision to ready for war against Iran? Isn’t it troubled by the disastrous consequences of its war on terror that has, inter alia, sent the world oil prices soaring and landed the weak economies in the soup? And why is it that the US, which seems to be enamoured of CFAs, didn’t accept bin Laden’s truce offer and the White House boasted that the best way to deal with terrorists was to put them out of business? The LTTE is proscribed as a terrorist outfit in the US, isn’t it?
Yes, a cessation of hostilities is salutary and the conflict must be resolved peacefully. But, of what use is a mummified truce violated umpteen times and abused by one party to further its interests? What did the US do to help salvage the tattered ceasefire? The US is behaving like a person who is weeping at his grandma’s funeral, hugging her lifeless body, having done nothing to help her when she was critically ill and pleading for help. The US policy towards Sri Lanka’s conflict has been ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’—something that Churchill said of Russia.
India, too, has expressed a similar view, urging Sri Lanka to prevent escalation of the conflict and adopt a political solution. What about the solution that India forced down Sri Lanka’s throat in 1987—the Provincial Council system? At that time, India was occupying a part of this country in all but name and the Tigers were eating out of its hand. Does India want her solution fully implemented or some other solution evolved? India’s gobbledygook defies comprehension.
It is time India, which has, to its credit, consistently rejected Eelam, stopped running with Sri Lanka and hunting with the international community. It must tell Sri Lanka what to do with its brainchild (the Provincial Councils). The present Sri Lankan government is doing exactly what the Indian government was doing in the late 1980s—battling the LTTE in a bid to defang and it prepare the ground for a political solution. India must say unequivocally whether it wouldn’t object if Sri Lanka were to adopt federalism that goes beyond the Indian devolution model, which is quasi-federal in nature. Or, in other words, does India want Sri Lanka to dump the Provincial Councils and give in to pressure from the US etc. to offer a federal solution.
The war Sri Lanka is fighting is partly India’s. It was not for nothing that India once tried to eliminate its Frankenstein’s monster. Hanuman, according to legend, destroyed Lanka millennia ago by setting it ablaze with its burning tail. Today, the Tigers are capable of doing that to India, given the dormant secessionist tendencies in Tamil Nadu, where the LTTE has become a source inspiration to the lunatic fringe as well as some prominent politicians in the democratic mainstream.
So, India must stand up and be counted for its own sake!

Biggest obstacle to Army this year is traitorous media – Army Commander [05-01-2008 7.30pm]

At a time when the government has declared 2008 as a year to eliminate terrorism, Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka sees what he calls the “traitorous media” as the main obstacle to achieving that objective. Following is an excerpt of an interview given by him to Prasanna Fonseka of the Dinamina Sinhala daily in its January 02nd issue.
“Q: What do you see as the obstacles or the problems in the way of achieving the targets set by the army this year?
A: The non-patriotic media is the main obstacle. I do not level this allegation at all the media or the media personnel. I know that 99 per cent of media institutions and their personnel carry out their duties with responsibility. But, unfortunately, there is a minority of traitorous media personnel amongst us. They are our biggest problem. Otherwise, all the other obstacles could be overcome.”
Lt. Gen. Fonseka has not mentioned any names while making this allegation.
However, one could surmise who these traitorous media institutions and personnel are, when a careful review of how the words “patriotic” and “traitorous” were used in the last few years in this country.
The “traitorous media” is:
1. Media that do not refer to “being killed” and “sacrificed the lives” when reporting war casualties.
2. Media that does not stop at reporting the victories of the military, but reports about its setbacks as well.
3. Media that exposes military and other officials who obtain thousands of dollars as commissions from weapons traders and swindle public’s money in military procurements.
4. Media that reports about the grave human rights violations being committed by the military.
5. Media that exposes military and other officials who ransack the houses of civilians in the north and the east.
6. Media that calls for punishment to undisciplined military personnel.
7. Media that reveals top military officials who use lesser ranks to get their household chores done.
8. Media that points out the futility of this never ending, genocidal war.
9. Media that calls for a ceasefire to replace to annulled one.
10. Media that says that the massive funds used for the war should be channeled for national development.
11. Media that calls for an immediate halt to war and a political solution to the issues of the Tamils.
If you media personnel do not belong to any of the above categories – you are in the “patriotic media.”
If you belong to at least one of the above categories – you are in the “traitorous media” – and beware, the coming year will be bad for you.
It seems that the army is at war not only with the LTTE.
(Translation of an article by K.W. Janaranjana for Ravaya newspaper)

Media organizations protest army chief’s media labeling
[05-01-2008 7.40pm]
Several media organizations have condemned the Army Commander for branding selected media institutions and personnel as “traitors.” When questioned about whom he sees as the obstacles or the problems in the way of achieving the targets set by the army this year, he has said, “The non-patriotic media is the main obstacle. I do not level this allegation at all the media or the media personnel. I know that 99 per cent of media institutions and their personnel carry out their duties with responsibility. But, unfortunately, there is a minority of traitorous media personnel amongst us. They are our biggest problem. Otherwise, all the other obstacles could be overcome.”
The Free Media Movement (FMM) says it is deeply disturbed to note that the commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Lt. General Sarath Fonseka, has named sections of the media and journalists as traitors.
In an interview published in the State controlled Sinhala daily Dinamina on 2nd January 2008, Major General Fonseka said that this was the only obstacle the military could not surmount in its fight to defeat the LTTE, a FMM statement said.
The statement has been signed by the Working Journalists Association, Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance and the FMM.
These organizations request the army chief to declare as to which yardsticks he had used in his categorization of the media as “traitors.”

Devananda demands Rs 100bn from Shakthi TV
Minister of Social Service and Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda is claiming Rs 100 billion as damages from the Shakthi TV Channel and an unconditional apology for defamation caused to him by the telecast of a programme called ‘Minnel’ produced and conducted by Sri Ranga Jeyaratnam.
The letter of demand was sent by Devananda’s lawyer M. K. P. Chndralal pertaining to the Minnel programme telecast on December 30, 2007 involving the late Parliamentarian T. Maheswaran.
A press release issued by the Ministry of Social Service and Social Welfare, faxed yesterday, to The Island, stated that in that programme conductor, Sri Ranga Jeyaratnam of the TV channel put forward questions to the late Parliamentarian to extract the desired accusations against the Minister and his party, the EPDP, to enable him to blame the Minister for the subsequent murder of the Parliamentarian. Many a time, the commentator had attempted to obtain answers from the Parliamentarian implicating the Minister and his party in the Human Rights violations in Jaffna.
The letter of demand also stated that Sri Ranga Jeyaratnam has been in the habit of making generalized wild accusations and defamatory statements against the Minister continuously blaming him on every Sunday in the ‘Minnel’ programme for the murders and disappearances of Tamil people.
The letter of demand stated that the Minister categorically denies involvement of members of his political party, namely the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) in the killings or violent activities that take place in the country.

"LTTE should have implemented CFA of 2002 in 2002 …"– Dayan Jayatilleka

Presenter: The LTTE has issued a press release stating that, despite the government’s decision to abandon the Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA), it (the LTTE) has decided to continue to abide by it. The release further states that it was deeply disappointed by the Government’s decision to withdraw from the CFA. According to the LTTE, it was the Sri Lankan Government which has continuously violated the CFA. To learn more about the Government’s reaction to these statements, BBC Sandeshaya spoke to Dayan Jayatilleka, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva.
Dayan Jayatilleka: The LTTE should have implemented the CFA of 2002 in 2002 and not in 2008! Having violated the Agreement in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008, the LTTE now says that it is willing to implement the 2002 CFA in its entirety without any changes. This is a joke.
Presenter: But they also say that the state security forces, in other words, the state too has violated the Cease-Fire Agreement on a number of occasions.
Dayan Jayatilleka: You see, the SLMM (Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission) has released statistics. According to those statistics, the number of occasions on which the state security forces had violated the Cease-Fire was very low. On the contrary, there were about 10,000 instances on which the LTTE had violated this Agreement. When they are in trouble, when they realize that they are going to lose the war, they say that they would respect the Cease-Fire. But, as they say in English, their commitment to the CFA is "too little, too late".
Presenter: Now, the LTTE statement shows a certain willingness, an interest on the part of the LTTE to return to peace negotiations.
Dayan Jayatilleka: How can that be? In 1987, in July 1987, the LTTE chief Prabhkaran said in Sudumalay that he was willing to accept the Indo Sri Lanka Peace Accord. But on 10th October 1987, he started waging war against the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). This is what Prabhakaran always does. When he is in trouble, he says that he is ready for peace negotiations. But, later the LTTE rearms itself and attacks. We place no trust in anything that the LTTE says.

Anti-aircraft shells found in Maligawatte house
by Harischandra Gunaratna

Maligawatte police yesterday morning arrested a school teacher in whose house a cache of ammunition including anti-aircraft shells was discovered. The house at Second Maligakande Lane, Maligawatte had been purchased from another person, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.
Police, acting on a tip off, searched the house around 11.30 a.m. and recovered 20 rounds of .50 ammunition used for anti aircraft guns, 16 rounds of T-56 ammunition and a T-56 magazine.
The occupant of the house Mohamed Nazar, a teacher of a school in Slave Island was arrested by the police.
According to the OIC Maligawatte police the ammunition had been packed in polythene and buried in the back yard.

Doctors call off strike after meeting president
by Emanthi Marambe and Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The GMOA called off its country wide strike after discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday morning. It expressed satisfaction with the pledges made by the President to look into their grievances.
The decision was taken at the Government Medical Officers Association’s special general meeting held at the Colombo National Hospital, GMOA Central Committee member Dr. Upul Gunasekera said.
The GMOA representatives held talks with the President at Temple Trees yesterday morning over three demands.
The President had agreed to revise their transport allowance, and not to implement the clauses on government doctors in the Private Medical Institutions Act until the GMOA made its recommendations.
The President also agreed to implement the Prof. Senaka Bibile drug policy in entirety.
The President’s office promised to issue the pledges in writing, Dr Gunasekera said. The GMOA Executive Committee would meet again next Thursday (17) to discuss the future course of action with regard to the promises made by the President, he said.
The Director National Hospital Dr. Hector Weerasinghe said some of the services were affected by the strike launched from 8 am onwards yesterday. The emergency services, including emergency operations, urgent operations and treatments were carried out as usual. The accident services, too, were unaffected, he said.
"A lot of patients seeking treatment visited the OPD in the morning, but by noon, on learning about the strike, they went away" Dr. Weerasinghe said.
The Colombo North Hospital Ragama, Kandy, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Badulla and Peradeniya Teaching Hospitals when contacted said that the OPD and the clinical services were totally affected due to the strike. The other services were carried out as usual, they said.
Doctors at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, Cancer Hospital Maharagama, Castle Street Hospital and De Soyza Maternity Hospital were not on strike and functioned as usual.

No formal truce offer from Tigers
The Government said yesterday it was pressing ahead with efforts to defeat the Tigers and dismissed talk of restoring a ceasefire.
A Presidential spokesman said the LTTE had made no formal offer to revive a truce, playing down a statement from the Tigers the previous day that they wanted to revive a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire.
“We have not been told either by the Tigers or the Norwegians,” he told AFP. “All we see are contradictory statements from them and we will not respond to claims in the media.”
“We will maintain our military operations against the Tigers, and by February 4 we will unveil a plan to politically solve the ethnic conflict,” he added.
On Thursday, however, the LTTE said it was ready to implement every clause of the CFA (ceasefire) agreement and respect it 100 per cent.
The presidential spokesman repeated assurances that the government was working hard on a political plan to grant greater autonomy to Tamils.
“The work on this is almost complete,” he insisted.

LTTE most dangerous extremist outfit: FBI
Describing the LTTE as the "most dangerous and deadly extremist" outfit in the world, the FBI has asked donors to be careful about charities established as front organisations by the rebel group to raise funds to finance its terrorist activities.

‘Why not India (to mediate with LTTE)?

I trust neighbours, if they are ready. I think they know LTTE’s mentality’ Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan President
Posted online: Monday, January 14, 2008 at 0039 hrs IST
• My guest this week, in Colombo’s presidential palace, is one of the most unassuming men to become a head of state. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, welcome to Walk the Talk. A wonderful setting, in the shade of a banyan tree that’s nearly 200 years old. More than 200 years old. I think one of the governors in the British period planted it. It has become a beautiful tree now.
• It has become a whole neighbourhood by itself. And this is your home, and I know you also work from here a lot. I work from here and from my office.
• You seem to have a partiality for this place. It’s a wonderful building with beautiful old ceilings. Yes, it was all redone by former presidents.
culture. That is the culture I have been practicing in Sri Lanka for a long time. I’m not from the city. I’m from a village.
• Even your name is informal. Nobody remembers your full name. In fact nobody calls you Mahindra. Yes, because from childhood everybody calls me Mahinda. It was easy to pronounce (for people) in my village, so they called me Mahinda Matya. Even today people from my electorate call me Mahinda Matya. Even when I was a minister they used to call me Mahinda Matya. It’s in their minds.
• I believe you even sign your name as Mahinda now. It’s your nickname. Yes. It’s popular and easy to remember.
• What surprises me is how relaxed you sound with so much fighting going on. Yes, you have to be relaxed. You can’t take all these things into your head. Then you won’t be able to think. Now we have faced this situation (fighting with the Tamil Tigers) for long. You can think and take a decision if you are relaxed. When you are excited, the decisions go wrong.
• Give us a sense of what’s going on in the north. If you speak about the north, you have to speak about the east also. When I came to power in November 18, 2005, (that was my birthday), I invited the LTTE for talks. Even before the elections, I was the only politician who said I’m ready to talk to them, talk to their leader. But within two weeks they started killing people, civilians, and unarmed soldiers. I pleaded to them for six-seven months . . . and till they attacked the army commander in Colombo, I was silent and was trying to get them to talk, and we managed to get them to Geneva, but they backed out. Then again in Oslo, they didn’t even meet my people. When they stopped the anicut that goes to the canal, I had to call in the army to open it. We tried to discuss and negotiate with them for one week. But it all failed. Then I ordered the army and we started clearing the area because they were attacking us.
• And it became a backward slide in terms of peacemaking. Still, I’ve appealed to them that I’m ready to talk.
• But do you put conditions for talking? No, I said without conditions. Let them fight. I’m ready to talk to them. I said they can keep their weapons, keep the fight going, but we will talk.
• Now what are you saying? Now, we can’t allow that to happen. Either we continue like this . . . • Fighting? Fighting, and we can start the talks. Let them do whatever they want.
• You mean without a ceasefire. Yes. I’m ready to talk to them.
• You are not offering a ceasefire. There is a ceasefire on at the moment. It is being implemented. They have violated it.
• Let me get this clear. You are now saying you don’t need a ceasefire, you can talk on the sides. I’m ready to do that because I want peace in the country. I don’t want a ceasefire.
• So you are not insisting that they first drop their arms before negotiations. No, if he is ready to fight with me and if he thinks this is the best way of negotiating, let him continue with the violence. We are ready to talk to them, but we have to attack them if they attack us. Otherwise I will not.
• How do you react to you description as a hawk? This is what some western media and some allied groups . . .
000000000 of our politicians, who are close to India, I think they are the people who spread it. Even from my own side.
• Such as? Give me some names. I don’t want to.
• Mahinda Rajapaksa, shy of naming names! No, I can name them. They are from the opposition and some are from my party but are still working against me. But most of them are with me at the moment.
• You can describe yourself as a hawk or a dove, but the fact is that this kind of a sustained military campaign has not been seen in the past. In fact it’s also a success because now LTTE has isolated itself to a corner. I have learnt from history, experience, because whenever I say there is a ceasefire, whenever they have had some breathing period, they have increased their fire power, trained their people, and started fighting after that. They were not genuine.
• So they have exploited the period of ceasefire. Yes.
• And you are not going to let it happen now. I won’t. I don’t think I will, because knowing what happened earlier, why should I do the same thing? If they hand over their arms to an independent party . . .
• Or a mediator. Like the Norwegians? Why not India?
• Are you serious? Yes.
• Would you rather that India mediate, or a really neutral country like Norway? I trust neighbours. Let them handle it if they want, if they are ready. But I don’t mind if there is a group of SAARC countries. I’ll prefer (that).
• Why are you shy of the Scandinavians? They are everybody’s neutral these days. This is what everybody is talking about. This is the picture you see. I don’t mind whether it is Norwegians, Japanese, or some other Scandinavian country. It’s whether the people of our country will believe them or trust them.
• You think a bigger power will command a greater assurance? I think so, because sometimes the pressure that India can put on the LTTE . . . I think they know their mentality. They’ve been working with them for a long time.
• One way and the other. But can India do all this despite the Tamil politics? This is my problem, about which I’m always thinking. I don’t want to pressurise India or make any demands on it, because I know the difficulty, especially in a coalition government.
• Have you made progress in your talks with the Indian side? I think we have a very good relationship. They understand me and I think now they understand me better than earlier.
• Earlier, even they saw you as a hawk. I don’t know. I won’t say anything about it. But I think now they know who Mahinda Rajapaksa is and what I think.
• Did you see initially that there were areas where the Indian side needed to understand you better? I think some of our leaders who were close to India and who went there must have given a wrong picture about me. But when they understood me, it was very easy to negotiate and talk to them and they were very sympathetic.
• Have you asked (India) that whenever you are ready, I would like you to mediate? They never asked me.
• Have you asked them? We will prefer them.
• You will prefer India to mediate? This I said before I became a MP.
• But politicians say one thing when they are out of power and another when they are in power. When I was a minister and when I went to Dehradun, somebody asked me this question, and I said, ‘Yes, why not!’ But western countries, and even India, prefer (that) a country like Norway (negotiate).
• It’s interesting that you say so. But tell me one thing: would the public opinion in Sri Lanka accept an Indian role? I think so.
• After the IPKF experience? Is there no gratitude for what the IPKF did here? That’s past. We have to build a new relationship. There is a new trend in Sri Lanka. Most businessmen are investing in Sri Lanka. In the past, I will admit, we have not shown gratitude. But as soon as I came I ordered a monument to be built for them (IPKF) and I will see the work is completed before our Independence Day, February 4. It’s under construction.
• Where is it being built? Near Parliament.
• You don’t think this is an unpopular decision? Will Sri Lanka appreciate that? I don’t think this will be an unpopular move. But the LTTE may not like it.
• So you are saying that the people of Sri Lanka should have some gratitude for what the IPKF did here? Certainly. They came here and sacrificed their lives.
• And many limbs. And what did they achieve for Sri Lanka that people at that point of time did not appreciate? That was a political campaign by Premadasa. If Premadasa had allowed IPKF to continue for another few months, they would have done something substantial.
• Finish the LTTE? Do you think they were that close. In a way, yes. They would have at least given the Sri Lankan army a better position.
• And Premadasa sabotaged it? He was a Sri Lankan patriot. The problem was that he wanted to become the president of this country and wanted the support of some of the extremists, some of the Left parties.
• Like the JVP then. And just for the cynical pursuit of presidency he did this? Yes.
• Because when I used to come here as a travelling reporter, people used to say that the Sri Lankan government used to supply weaponry to the LTTE and at the same time used to leak the movement of the Indian units to the LTTE. I don’t want to comment on the (allegations of ) the Sri Lankan army supplying weapons or giving information about the (IPKF) troops. But that was an allegation by the opposition.
• No, not your opposition, but your own party people: Chandrika Kumaratunga once told me, he supplied weapons and later Lalith (Atulathmudali) went a step further and said these weapons were supplied to the LTTE by Premadasa in Tata trucks supplied (by India) to the Sri Lankan army. Quite right. But I don’t want to comment on what he did because he’s dead and gone.
• It’s almost exactly 20 years since the IPKF came here or Pawan was launched. I was also here in Jaffna in exactly the same week, covering the tail-end of Pawan and also reconstructing what went wrong in the first five days of military operations. If you were to sum up the Indian military campaign at that time, how close did they come to breaking the back of the LTTE? First, I think, they miscalculated the power of LTTE.
• And the intention. Yes. But then they were catching on. They were studying the ground situation and trying to consolidate themselves. And that was the time they were sent out.
• Premdasa got them out. Yes. Only for a political issue.
• Has the political class in Colombo done some introspection about it? That they lost a chance, lost a good friend in India? Quite. We lost a friend by doing that.
• What’s your view on the Rajiv Gandhi-Jaywardene accord? In some aspects, I don’t agree with that accord. But in some aspects, we were ready to accept it.
• Was it a good deal? I won’t say it’s a good deal or a bad deal. That has become a law now. We have accepted it.
• But not fully implemented it. Yes. Now I feel it’s the best solution for devolution of power.
• Rajiv Gandhi, in 1987, 20 years back, had the wisdom to figure out what would be best for Sri Lanka in the long run. In the future.
• So he had that vision. I think so.
• You didn’t know him. No, I have not met him.
• Sad that we have lost him, too. Yes. Certainly he was a great leader. He knew what was going on. The villagers in our area, deep south, felt that India came in by force. That was the mistake. • I remember posters saying: IPKF — Innocent People Killing Force. That is because of the way they carried out things, air-dropping food. That was not a good gesture.
• You think management of the operation was poor. It could have been done much more sophisticatedly.