[Ｌａｙ　Ｄｏｗｎ　Ｙｏｕｒ　Ａｒｍｓ]Lay U Down

　　Tension mounted in Sri Lanka after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) announced on April 20 they would boycott the second round of talks with the Sri Lankan Government scheduled to be held in Geneva. The attempt to assassinate the island country’s Army Chief Sarath Fonseka in Colombo by a suicide bomber on April 25 and government forces’ retaliatory air raids on LTTE territory pushed the tension to the edge of a civil war.
　　Over 250 people have been killed in the northern and eastern provinces since the beginning of April. Violence is endangering the Norwegian-backed ceasefire that had largely held since 2002 despite violations blamed on both sides. LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran recently clearly indicated that it would continue to increase its military struggle for the purpose of establishing a separate state of the country’s minority Tamil people.
　　The country’s tense situation has been widely monitored by the international media. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on May 12 called on parties in Sri Lanka to bring the country back on a path to peace.
　　In a statement released by his spokesman, Annan said he was disturbed by the news of major sea and aerial attacks in the country, including an attack by the LTTE on a vessel that had unarmed international monitors on board.
　　“The secretary general has taken note of the statement by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission demanding that LTTE immediately cease all operations at sea, and describing these as a serious violation of the cease-fire agreement,” the statement said.
　　Meanwhile, the LTTE’s recent extremist activities have been widely condemned by the international community. It has been formally declared a terrorist organization by many countries, including India, the United States, Britain, Malaysia and Australia. The United States has shown its strong attitude to the organization by encouraging the EU to list the LTTE as a banned organization, according to a report by Sri Lanka’s Daily News on May 17.
　　In an exclusive interview with Sri Lanka’s national television Rupavahini during his two-day visit, the U.S. State Department’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp said, “The LTTE is very deserving of that label.”
　　Camp said banning the LTTE “will help cut off financial supplies and weapons procurement and the like.”
　　The Norwegians brokered a ceasefire between the government and the LTTE in February 2002 after nearly three decades of fighting in the north and east that claimed over 64,000 lives.
　　Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Nihal Rodrigo recently spoke to Beijing Review, about the current situation between the government and the LTTE.
　　Nihal Rodrigo: In 2002, the Tigers and Sri Lankan Government reached a ceasefire agreement. Though it was not perfect, at least it temporarily stopped some of the LTTE-sponsored violence. They had many rounds of negotiations with us, but this was stopped two years ago. Then, once again, we had a new round of talks in Geneva in February this year. Then, the next round was set to take place in April, but that was also stopped by the LTTE.
　　Since then, we have seen several violent attacks by the LTTE, one of which tried to kill the head of our armed forces. I hope they will return to the peace talks.
　　What is the Sri Lankan Government’s policy toward Tamil Tiger rebels?
　　Actually, the government’s policy toward the rebels is the same as what I call the national policy on the whole peace process. On April 28, we had a meeting of all the political parties of Sri Lanka, including the opposition party led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe. All the parties signed a Joint Statement at the All Party Conference on that day. So, the government’s policy is actually the policy of the nation.
　　The policy is very clearly recorded in the statement: “It is our firm belief that differences that arise among different communities of our country and the various streams of political opinion should be resolved through the democratic process of discussion directed toward peace.”
　　The second point is that members of the LTTE are also citizens of Sri Lanka and members of the Sri Lankan community. They have the right to participate in political affairs. But they should do it peacefully through democratic means, not through terrorism. We would like the LTTE to return to the talks. If they have any special ideas or they want their special problems settled, we can discuss them. We do not want them to take to terrorism or try to settle problems through violence alone.
　　You must understand that the LTTE is not representative of all the Tamil people. They claim they are “the sole representative of the Tamil people.” But there are more Tamil people living peacefully outside the LTTE-controlled areas. So, the first thing is that we would like them to return to the peace process.
　　Battles between Sri Lankan Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels have been escalating recently. Do you think this will lead to civil war after four years of ceasefire?
　　Well, I do not think it will lead to a civil war, but certainly there is a lot of violence and tension. What we are hoping is that we can halt it. The vast majority of the people, including the Tamils, do not want a conflict situation or a war. I don’t think there will be a civil war.
　　Is there any hope of ending the conflicts through negotiation?
　　Yes. Actually, not only the Sri Lankan Government, but also those concerned with the peace process, such as Norway, the European Union, the United States of America and Japan, are trying their best to persuade the LTTE to come back to the negotiations. India is also an observer of the whole process. So, we are trying to convince the LTTE that it is possible to have peaceful discussions. We have asked our friends all over the world to put pressure on them to come back for talks. Many countries actually banned the LTTE and others are putting pressure on them to get them back to the talks and stop their terrorist activities and attacks on civilians and the army.
　　
　　Will they put down their weapons?
　　
　　That is what we want them to do. But there is a major problem for the LTTE, because they believe only in violence. They call themselves “the sole representative of the Tamil people,” like the African National Congress during its liberation struggle in South Africa led by Nelson Mandela. But there is an enormous difference between the LTTE and the African National Congress. The African National Congress united all the communities in South Africa.
　　Second, no country in the world recognizes the LTTE as “the sole representative of Tamil people.” The LTTE is not recognized by any country.
　　The third point is that the African National Congress did not kill civilians, children, women or innocent people. But much many of the LTTE activities are directed against civilians. They have killed thousands of civilians.
　　The fourth point is that the African National Congress was willing to have talks and reached solutions that were accepted by all the people of South Africa. The LTTE does not even represent all the people in the region, as they claim. And there are also battles between the LTTE and the group led by Karuna, a former LTTE member. Several weeks ago, China’s Central Television showed some of the difficulties they are having among themselves.
　　In the past, the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE have had many ceasefire agreements. But such agreements were violated several times. Why?
　　Because the LTTE has been demanding a separate state, and the Sri Lankan Government has very clearly said that they cannot have a separate state. So, we would like them to sit down to discuss what they want within a united Sri Lanka. Because, as I have said, the LTTE is also people of Sri Lanka and like all the other parties, its problems should be laid on the negotiating table. Now, the LTTE is alone against all the parties in Sri Lanka. The April 28 meeting among all the parties held a very strong position on how the peace process should take place. I think the parties’ views are very clearly mentioned in the joint statement, reading all the parties “unreservedly reject the acts of terrorism, the cruel murders and other forms of violence which have been used as a means to instill fear in people, and thereby achieve political goals and objectives.” The LTTE must learn to coexist with the rest of Sri Lanka. They need not isolate themselves within a violent lifestyle.
　　What is your expectation of the international community?
　　China has clearly stated that it supports the independence and sovereignty of Sri Lanka and its territorial integrity. Many countries like the United States, India, Britain, Australia and Canada have banned the LTTE. Now, what we are looking at is to stop the collection of illegal funds in foreign countries. That has become a very big problem. It is likely that the EU will finalize a decision on the LTTE shortly.
　　

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