02-08-2005, 12:20 PM
Sri Lanka rebels say ambush to severely hit peace bid
<img src='http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/reuters120.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
1 hour, 1 minute ago
By Arjuna Wickramasinghe
WELIKANDA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Tamil Tiger rebels on Tuesday accused Sri Lanka's military of ambushing and killing one of its top political figures, and said the attack would severely damage efforts to forge lasting peace after two decades of civil war.
E. Kousalyan, political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) eastern wing, was shot dead along with three companions late on Monday in a government-controlled area in Sri Lanka's restive east.
A driver and a pro-rebel former member of parliament were also killed. Kousalyan was the most senior rebel killed since a 2002 ceasefire left the Tigers' bloody fight for autonomy in the north and east in limbo.
"Definitely it is going to (cause) severe damage between the parties,"
"It really is a setback for the whole (peace) efforts and the confidence-building measures," he said. "The Sri Lankan military intelligence and the paramilitary groups are always working together targetting the LTTE members."
Sri Lanka's military has denied any hand in the ambush, and suspects a breakaway rebel faction led by renegade commander Karuna -- who used to dominate the area -- was responsible.
The attack took place near the village of Welikanda on a remote stretch of jungle road 500 metres from a no-man's land that separates rebel-held and military-held areas near the Tigers' eastern stronghold of Batticaloa.
Police said they suspected two unidentified gunmen ambushed the van in which Kousalyan was travelling, spraying the vehicle with automatic weapon fire.
WELL-PLANNED ATTACK
"This is the most serious attack since the ceasefire," said Timo Telen, a member of a Nordic team monitoring the truce. "I hope the government and the LTTE will work to ensure that the situation will not escalate."
Reuters correspondents who visited the scene said the van had veered off the road into a paddy field. Two police informants who said they happened to be nearby at the time of the attack pointed to where Kousalyan had been sitting.
The van was full of spent bullet casings, suggesting the gunmen fired from point-blank range.
The bodies of Kousalyan and his three Tiger companions were laid out at a morgue in the nearby town of Polonnaruwa. Each had been hit by around two dozen bullets.
"This attack was planned ahead and was carried out with precision," said Inspector Saman Perera of Welikanda police.
Bickering between the rebels and the government reached fever pitch late last year. The Tigers threatened in November to resume a struggle that has already killed more than 64,000 people on both sides of the ethnic divide.
But the rebels said they had put aside politics after Asia's devastating tsunami to concentrate on reconstruction, stoking hopes Sri Lanka's worst natural disaster could pave the way for long-elusive permanent peace.
Peace talks have been deadlocked for nearly two years over the Tigers' central demand for interim self-rule.
The rebels want the right to govern what they regard as their homeland of Tamil Eelam to be enshrined in the constitution before they will discuss lasting peace.
The government says the rebels must agree to discuss long-term peace first.
(With reporting by Simon Gardner)
<img src='http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050208/i/ra351215074.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
A Sri Lankan police officer holds bullet shells as he examines a bullet hole on the windscreen of the vehicle that was used by the slain top Tamil Tiger rebel political wing leader E. Kousalyan in Welikanda, Sri Lanka February 8, 2005. REUTERS/Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi
------------------------------------------------------------------
Asia - AFP
Sri Lanka on alert, peace bid in trouble as Tiger ambush toll hits six
58 minutes ago Asia - AFP
COLOMBO, (AFP) - Security forces went on alert in eastern Sri Lanka amid fresh fears for the already faltering peace process after the killing of a senior Tamil Tiger rebel leader, military officials said.
E. Koushalyan, leader of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the eastern province, was shot dead with four senior colleagues while they were travelling in the coastal district of Batticaloa on Monday night.
On Tuesday a Tamil politician, former legislator Chandra Nehru who was wounded in the ambush, succumbed to his injuries raising the death toll to six, officials said.
Nehru's Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party is seen as a proxy of Tamil Tigers who have control over 22 TNA legislators in the 225-member parliament.
Koushalyan, who was killed instantly, is the most senior Tiger to be gunned down since Colombo and the rebels began a Norwegian-brokered truce in February 2002.
The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said Tigers blamed the attack on "paramilitary operatives working with the Sri Lankan armed forces."
A senior military official denied any involvement but said a security alert was sounded in the area after the killings.
Military officials said they suspected the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers led by the former number two in the LTTE, V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga has accused the Tigers of killing over 250 of their rivals since the truce.
The ambush is seen as a setback for Norway's attempts to revive peace talks and its moves to bring the two sides together to coordinate post-tsunami relief. The talks have been deadlocked since April 2003.
The Tigers said Koushalyan was returning from a meeting in the rebel political headquarters of Kilinochchi in the island's north, where they reviewed relief operations, when he was killed.
Norwegian ambassador Hans Brattskar held talks with the Tiger leadership Sunday to try to get the two sides to agree on ways to coordinate foreign tsunami aid.
"It is no doubt that this will be a setback," said a diplomatic source involved in the process. "What is worse is if the Tigers decide to strike back. They could go for individuals."
Military analyst and retired air force chief Harry Gunatillake said Koushalyan's slaying may not affect tsunami-related work but could have an impact on the peace process.
Gunatillake said the peace bid was already on the "backburner" after the December 26 tsunamis which battered more than three-quarters of the island's coastline and killed nearly 31,000 people, most of them in the embattled northeast.
Military officials said Koushalyan's body and those of the other four Tiger activists were at a government hospital and the rebels were expected to hold funerals in an area they control in Batticaloa district.
A local military official said Koushalyan had not told military authorities about his travels Monday so he was not provided with safe passage.
Senior Tigers are often given official security while travelling through government-held areas.
Officials said the military had stepped up checks on vehicles and passengers following the ambush.
More than 60,000 people were killed in the Tamil separatist conflict between 1972 and 2002.
AFP
<img src='http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/reuters120.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
1 hour, 1 minute ago
By Arjuna Wickramasinghe
WELIKANDA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Tamil Tiger rebels on Tuesday accused Sri Lanka's military of ambushing and killing one of its top political figures, and said the attack would severely damage efforts to forge lasting peace after two decades of civil war.
E. Kousalyan, political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) eastern wing, was shot dead along with three companions late on Monday in a government-controlled area in Sri Lanka's restive east.
A driver and a pro-rebel former member of parliament were also killed. Kousalyan was the most senior rebel killed since a 2002 ceasefire left the Tigers' bloody fight for autonomy in the north and east in limbo.
"Definitely it is going to (cause) severe damage between the parties,"
"It really is a setback for the whole (peace) efforts and the confidence-building measures," he said. "The Sri Lankan military intelligence and the paramilitary groups are always working together targetting the LTTE members."
Sri Lanka's military has denied any hand in the ambush, and suspects a breakaway rebel faction led by renegade commander Karuna -- who used to dominate the area -- was responsible.
The attack took place near the village of Welikanda on a remote stretch of jungle road 500 metres from a no-man's land that separates rebel-held and military-held areas near the Tigers' eastern stronghold of Batticaloa.
Police said they suspected two unidentified gunmen ambushed the van in which Kousalyan was travelling, spraying the vehicle with automatic weapon fire.
WELL-PLANNED ATTACK
"This is the most serious attack since the ceasefire," said Timo Telen, a member of a Nordic team monitoring the truce. "I hope the government and the LTTE will work to ensure that the situation will not escalate."
Reuters correspondents who visited the scene said the van had veered off the road into a paddy field. Two police informants who said they happened to be nearby at the time of the attack pointed to where Kousalyan had been sitting.
The van was full of spent bullet casings, suggesting the gunmen fired from point-blank range.
The bodies of Kousalyan and his three Tiger companions were laid out at a morgue in the nearby town of Polonnaruwa. Each had been hit by around two dozen bullets.
"This attack was planned ahead and was carried out with precision," said Inspector Saman Perera of Welikanda police.
Bickering between the rebels and the government reached fever pitch late last year. The Tigers threatened in November to resume a struggle that has already killed more than 64,000 people on both sides of the ethnic divide.
But the rebels said they had put aside politics after Asia's devastating tsunami to concentrate on reconstruction, stoking hopes Sri Lanka's worst natural disaster could pave the way for long-elusive permanent peace.
Peace talks have been deadlocked for nearly two years over the Tigers' central demand for interim self-rule.
The rebels want the right to govern what they regard as their homeland of Tamil Eelam to be enshrined in the constitution before they will discuss lasting peace.
The government says the rebels must agree to discuss long-term peace first.
(With reporting by Simon Gardner)
<img src='http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050208/i/ra351215074.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
A Sri Lankan police officer holds bullet shells as he examines a bullet hole on the windscreen of the vehicle that was used by the slain top Tamil Tiger rebel political wing leader E. Kousalyan in Welikanda, Sri Lanka February 8, 2005. REUTERS/Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi
------------------------------------------------------------------
Asia - AFP
Sri Lanka on alert, peace bid in trouble as Tiger ambush toll hits six
58 minutes ago Asia - AFP
COLOMBO, (AFP) - Security forces went on alert in eastern Sri Lanka amid fresh fears for the already faltering peace process after the killing of a senior Tamil Tiger rebel leader, military officials said.
E. Koushalyan, leader of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the eastern province, was shot dead with four senior colleagues while they were travelling in the coastal district of Batticaloa on Monday night.
On Tuesday a Tamil politician, former legislator Chandra Nehru who was wounded in the ambush, succumbed to his injuries raising the death toll to six, officials said.
Nehru's Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party is seen as a proxy of Tamil Tigers who have control over 22 TNA legislators in the 225-member parliament.
Koushalyan, who was killed instantly, is the most senior Tiger to be gunned down since Colombo and the rebels began a Norwegian-brokered truce in February 2002.
The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said Tigers blamed the attack on "paramilitary operatives working with the Sri Lankan armed forces."
A senior military official denied any involvement but said a security alert was sounded in the area after the killings.
Military officials said they suspected the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers led by the former number two in the LTTE, V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga has accused the Tigers of killing over 250 of their rivals since the truce.
The ambush is seen as a setback for Norway's attempts to revive peace talks and its moves to bring the two sides together to coordinate post-tsunami relief. The talks have been deadlocked since April 2003.
The Tigers said Koushalyan was returning from a meeting in the rebel political headquarters of Kilinochchi in the island's north, where they reviewed relief operations, when he was killed.
Norwegian ambassador Hans Brattskar held talks with the Tiger leadership Sunday to try to get the two sides to agree on ways to coordinate foreign tsunami aid.
"It is no doubt that this will be a setback," said a diplomatic source involved in the process. "What is worse is if the Tigers decide to strike back. They could go for individuals."
Military analyst and retired air force chief Harry Gunatillake said Koushalyan's slaying may not affect tsunami-related work but could have an impact on the peace process.
Gunatillake said the peace bid was already on the "backburner" after the December 26 tsunamis which battered more than three-quarters of the island's coastline and killed nearly 31,000 people, most of them in the embattled northeast.
Military officials said Koushalyan's body and those of the other four Tiger activists were at a government hospital and the rebels were expected to hold funerals in an area they control in Batticaloa district.
A local military official said Koushalyan had not told military authorities about his travels Monday so he was not provided with safe passage.
Senior Tigers are often given official security while travelling through government-held areas.
Officials said the military had stepped up checks on vehicles and passengers following the ambush.
More than 60,000 people were killed in the Tamil separatist conflict between 1972 and 2002.
AFP
<img src='http://img35.echo.cx/img35/2821/3dtext82282uu.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>