06-28-2004, 08:41 PM
<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>Tigers refuse talks with military</span>
The government admits some army members helped Karuna
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have refused to resume regular talks with the country's military, accusing it of harbouring a renegade rebel leader.
Col Karuna led an abortive breakaway in the east this year and then went underground in April.
The Sri Lankan government admitted last week that elements within the military had supported Col Karuna.
Diplomatic sources say the Norwegian-led peace monitors are deeply concerned with the Tigers' withdrawal.
Deputy head of the monitoring team, Hagrup Haukland, met the Tigers' political wing leader, SP Thamilselvan, on Monday to try to solve the dispute.
Mr Haukland said: "We had hoped the [Tamil Tigers] would change their mind, but this was not so."
Mr Thamilselvan said: "The future of the ceasefire agreement and the peace talks is not in our hands now. It is in the hands of the Sri Lankan army, truce monitors and the Norwegian [peace] facilitators."
Covert war
On the pro-rebel Tamilnet web site, the Tigers said they had "indubitable proof that [Col Karuna] is working with the Sri Lankan military intelligence".
Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim is due back in Colombo
"The Tigers will not recommence meetings with the Sri Lankan army while the government and its military continue to harbour Karuna and continue to instigate murder and confusion in [the eastern district of] Batticaloa."
Col Karuna broke from the mainstream Tamil Tigers four months ago to set up a separate regime in the east but after a brief spell of internecine fighting he vanished.
The government admitted members of the army helped him escape and wage a covert war of attrition against the Tamil Tigers.
It said it had happened without government knowledge.
The Tigers have since refused to resume security talks on day-to-day issues concerning the ceasefire, which has held since February 2002.
Mr Haukland said: "[This] complicates our role and things at a local level... I don't think it will jeopardise the [ceasefire] agreement but it does make things difficult."
Norway's peace envoy, Erik Solheim, was due to arrive in Colombo later on Monday to try to breathe new life into a peace process that faltered when the Tigers walked out in April last year.
They said the government was not honouring pledges on progress in the north and east.
The Tigers have been fighting for two decades for a separate homeland in those areas.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asi...sia/3847733.stm
[b]தமிழோசை
http://www.bbc.co.uk/tamil/tam_ca.ram
The government admits some army members helped Karuna
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have refused to resume regular talks with the country's military, accusing it of harbouring a renegade rebel leader.
Col Karuna led an abortive breakaway in the east this year and then went underground in April.
The Sri Lankan government admitted last week that elements within the military had supported Col Karuna.
Diplomatic sources say the Norwegian-led peace monitors are deeply concerned with the Tigers' withdrawal.
Deputy head of the monitoring team, Hagrup Haukland, met the Tigers' political wing leader, SP Thamilselvan, on Monday to try to solve the dispute.
Mr Haukland said: "We had hoped the [Tamil Tigers] would change their mind, but this was not so."
Mr Thamilselvan said: "The future of the ceasefire agreement and the peace talks is not in our hands now. It is in the hands of the Sri Lankan army, truce monitors and the Norwegian [peace] facilitators."
Covert war
On the pro-rebel Tamilnet web site, the Tigers said they had "indubitable proof that [Col Karuna] is working with the Sri Lankan military intelligence".
Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim is due back in Colombo
"The Tigers will not recommence meetings with the Sri Lankan army while the government and its military continue to harbour Karuna and continue to instigate murder and confusion in [the eastern district of] Batticaloa."
Col Karuna broke from the mainstream Tamil Tigers four months ago to set up a separate regime in the east but after a brief spell of internecine fighting he vanished.
The government admitted members of the army helped him escape and wage a covert war of attrition against the Tamil Tigers.
It said it had happened without government knowledge.
The Tigers have since refused to resume security talks on day-to-day issues concerning the ceasefire, which has held since February 2002.
Mr Haukland said: "[This] complicates our role and things at a local level... I don't think it will jeopardise the [ceasefire] agreement but it does make things difficult."
Norway's peace envoy, Erik Solheim, was due to arrive in Colombo later on Monday to try to breathe new life into a peace process that faltered when the Tigers walked out in April last year.
They said the government was not honouring pledges on progress in the north and east.
The Tigers have been fighting for two decades for a separate homeland in those areas.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asi...sia/3847733.stm
[b]தமிழோசை
http://www.bbc.co.uk/tamil/tam_ca.ram
Truth 'll prevail