COLOMBO, 28 September 2005 — In a diplomatic blow to the Tamil Tigers, the European Union said yesterday it would refuse to meet visiting rebel delegations because of the group’s continued terrorism in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict. The EU for the first time also announced it was “actively considering” banning the rebels.
European diplomats here said that members, while mulling a full-fledged ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), had agreed to take several other steps to crack down on Tiger activity in their countries.
“We have not come to the stage of a full ban,” one diplomat said. “But member states are sending a strong message to the LTTE that they have been put on notice. They could face a ban any time.” An EU statement released by the British High Commission in Colombo voiced concern about a “continuing use of violence and terrorism” by the Tigers. “The European Union has agreed that with immediate effect, delegations from the LTTE will no longer be received in any of the EU member states until further notice,” the statement said.
Sri Lanka Ex-PM Pitches Populist Election Manifesto
Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister and presidential hopeful Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday pledged a raft of subsidies if elected in a major policy shift to target the masses who voted his government out in 2004.
Launching his election manifesto ahead of a Nov.17 poll, the right-of-center market favorite vowed to spend $50 million next year to keep down prices of goods ranging from milk powder to fertilizer, pledging to create 3 million jobs and double economic growth to 10 percent a year for a decade.
Banking on foreign investment more than tripling to $1 billion a year to meet his growth target, Wickremesinghe shifted his policy focus from a peace bid with Tamil Tiger rebels to the economy and the common man.
“Firstly the relief funds (are to) get the economy moving, get job creation,” Wickremesinghe told a news conference at his main opposition United National Party.
Wickremesinghe said the economy came first. “People want answers to this,” he said, adding that while peace was an issue, “I think people are also talking about their stomach.” Wickremesinghe, who is set to go head to head with left-of-center Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse for the presidency in a race seen too close to call, promised to revitalize the rural economy and guarantee paddy and milk prices for farmers.
He said he would raise the funds to pay for the subsidies from treasury coffers and from foreign aid pledged for tsunami recovery relief and for wider redevelopment projects.
He also pledged to abandon a coastal buffer zone imposed by outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga in the wake of December’s tsunami, and promised to rebuild homes for hundreds of thousands of displaced within months. Many aid agencies are struggling to kickstart housing projects because of difficulties in securing land to build on, while fishermen along the island’s battered shoreline are loathe to move inland because of disruption of their livelihood.
