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| Sunday, 18 July 2004 |
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Troubles cause anxiety in East Eastern Corridor by Rashomi Silva A US based private think tank 'Strat for' last week voiced anxiety over a possible outbreak of renewed confrontation between the LTTE and Karuna loyalists over the supremacy of the island's troubled East. If the renegade leader decides to challenge the Tiger supremo Prabhakaran at a future juncture it would be different from the previous attempt where he had to retreat for safety, a 'Strat for' specialist had commented. The Tigers are likely to end up weaker, perhaps no longer in a position to make the demand for autonomy," he was quoted as saying in a web site. The logic behind this thinking is both parties are equally determined to get the better of the other side and are preparing themselves for future battle. Therefore the result would not only be different but dangerous. Military officials here, however expressed a different view. Speaking on the condition of anonymity a senior military official said Karuna at this juncture would concentrate more on entering the political mainstream rather than getting back to the East to challenge the LTTE leadership. The argument sounds plausible. By becoming a leader of a political party, the renegade could not only gain recognition but also protection. Perhaps the fact that former rebel turned politician and the EPDP leader, Douglas Devananda escaped several attempts on his life might have given Karuna some idea of what it meant to be in the democratic main stream. "Of course his supporters would carry out clandestine operation in the East to destabilise the LTTE further, and for that Karuna loyalists need to re-organise themselves better," the official said. Sources reveal that the LTTE public relations in the area is in a poor state, movements of the cadres are badly affected and almost no senior level cadre visited Batticaloa after their victory, creating bad picture in the eye of the civilians. Taking advantage of the situation, Karuna after a silence of three months last week appeared in the media, when he gave an interview to the state owned SLBC Tamil Service and to the BBC Tamil Service. He expressed his wish to run for political office in the East. Preparing the ground work for Karuna's political campaign his loyalists in the East last week launched a poster campaign condemning the Tiger Chief Prabhakaran, the LTTE, and their conduct, Eastern sources said. If Karuna's rebellion had generated public support in the East as was pointed out by both the 'Strat for' specialist and the military intelligence here, chances are his political activities would generate even more support. Eastern situation Two men, both regarded as important men in local society were killed last week in the uncleared parts of Batticaloa by gun men suspected to be from the LTTE, military sources from the East said the LTTE were carrying out attacks on selected targets to convey a message to the public. The main objective of these killings was to instil fear in the public minds, and to suppress Karuna's support. However intelligence sources described these attempts as failures rather than successes. "Karuna still enjoys enormous support in the East," it was remarked. In the backdrop of increasing tension in the East, TNA legislator Gajendra Ponamballam last week said that no date for talks should be fixed till the Government brings the situation in the East under control. But what the LTTE and their official and unofficial spokesmen have not realised is that, this is not an objective the security forces could achieve on their own. Playing the old record that the security forces are helping Karuna to destabilise the LTTE was also not going to help. What is more important is that the LTTE by word and deed should adopt the pluralistic attitude of live and let live. |
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