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| Sunday, 17 July 2005 |
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Peace process at crossroads by Ranga Jayasuriya During the campaign to seal an agreement on the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure, the general understanding in the peace circles was that the P-TOMS would be a prelude to the resumption of the peace negotiations. Remember when the LTTE demanded the Joint-Mechanism, the Tiger hierarchy, while de-linking the P-TOMS from the peace process, made an explicit gesture that it would help the two parties to regain a degree of mutual confidence which would eventually lead to the resumption of the peace negotiations. But such optimism is proved unrealistic, the euphoria of signing the P-TOMS is lost in the increasing violence in the East. Killings in the East, which became a routine since Karuna's split, rose to the all time high in the past few days, which saw over 30 soldiers and policemen being injured in grenade attacks and shooting incidents. On Thursday, a police post in Samanthurai, Kalmunai came under an attack by the LTTE gunmen. The attack was repulsed by the police. Two sailors were injured in an attack by a group of LTTE gunmen in Kumburupiddi, Trincomalee. The Navy retaliated killing one LTTE cadre. On the same day, three civilians - two Muslims and one of mixed origin- were killed in Akkaraipattu by unidentified gunmen. Security situation in the East has always been volatile through out the ceasefire agrement. Such situation could have been predictable given the ethnic composition in the province and the LTTE's campaign to spread its influence in this ethnically mixed province, occupied by the three main communities in equal numbers. Even before the LTTE's fratricidal war broke out following the breakaway of the renegade Eastern commander Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna, the East was a hot bed of ethnic clashes between Tamils and Muslims. And a fragile security situation in the East deteriorated with Karuna's split. Of course the recent killings of four three LTTE cadres and a civilian in Chelvanayampuram, Trincomalee, was the immediate reason for the increased violence. But writing was on the wall for a long time - Non- LTTE Tamil political activists and military intelligence operatives were routinely killed in the East. For all those who view the P-TOMS as an opening to the resumption of the peace talks, now it is clear that the opportunity has been squandered. One could guess by whom? The LTTE' conduct since the signing the P-TOMS by the government, which indeed risked its existence to sign the agreement, did not amount to a reciprocation of the commitment of its counterpart to the peace process. Just days after the signing of the P-TOMS, LTTE pistol men shot dead two police constables in Kalmunai (Another constable succumbed to injuries after being transferred to the Colombo General Hospital). Three soldiers were shot dead inside their three wheeler in Uranai just six days after the June 24 agreement on the P-TOMS. All that was before the unidentified gunmen attacked the farm house cum LTTE political office in Chelvanayakampuram, killing three LTTE men. And LTTE's demand for travel arrangements of its cadres - travelling between the East and the Wanni - were laced with rhetoric and,of course, an ultimatum, which no self respecting Government could accept. Responding to the LTTE demand for travel arrangements, Peace secretariat Chief Dr. Jayantha Danapala, this week, rejected the ultimatum saying a democratically elected government would not act on an ultimatum. Yet, the Government offered to provide armed escort for LTTE cadres for one round trip per month from Killinochchi to Batticaloa and to Trincomalee under the conditions earlier agreed by the two parties. But the Tigers are not happy with Dr Danapala's response and LTTE Political Chief Thamilselvam on Thursday wrote to the SLMM acting chief Hagrup Haukland saying that unless LTTE proposals on travel arrangements are implemented, the Tigers would seek their own mood of transport - The Tigers do not want to limit Wanni- East movements to a single trip to a month. "If the military attempts to intervene," Thamilselvam wrote, "we would be compelled to react suitably. This we fear would push the CFA into a grave and complex situation". Unfortunately, the P-TOMS could not help improve security situation and now legal implications have overshadowed its very existence. The Supreme Court on Friday issued a staying order on four issues of the P-TOMS - i.e Fund Management, location of the Regional Committee (Killinochchi) and project approval and implementation of the Regional Committee. Even before the court action, the main donors were declining to contribute to the Trust Fund of the P-TOMS. This was expected as major donors such as Japan, US, India and China had earlier announced that they would not contribute to the P-TOMS Fund, but would direct their contributions to the Government treasury. "Because of legal restrictions, US will not be contributing to the Trust Fund associated with the P-TOMS," US embassy announced last week, which was followed by Japan which said it would direct funds to the Government Treasury. Britain is still undecided on its position. The Government has already appointed Minister D. E. W. Gunasekara as its nominee in the Apex body. Though LTTE had not officially announced, there are speculations that Shanmugalingam Ranjan, the deputy head of the LTTE's Planning and Development secretariat would be the chairman of the Regional Committee. Coming days will be interesting, because the future path of the peace
process will be decided then based on the conduct of the two parties to low
down hostilities in the East. |
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