Akashi Fails to Nudge Tigers

Author: 
Vincent Jeyan, Associated Press
Publication Date: 
Wed, 2006-05-10 03:00

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, 10 May 2006 — A Japanese envoy yesterday failed to convince Tamil Tiger rebels to start immediate peace talks with the Sri Lankan government, as the military announced the seizure of a stockpile of arms and explosives in the rebels’ northern stronghold.

In Colombo, the government extended an emergency law for another month that empowers the police and military to detain terrorist suspects indefinitely and search any premises.

Peace envoy Yasushi Akashi met with S.P. Thamilselvan, the head of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in an effort to stave off a renewed civil war in the island nation.

But he failed to convince the separatist Tamil Tigers.

“We have explained to the Japanese delegation that we will not be in a position to attend talks until the killings cease and our commanders are given safer transport for the meeting,” Thamilselvan told reporters in Kilinochchi, 275 km north of Colombo after the meeting.

“We have explained to them that there is no cease-fire environment here, the military has disrupted normal civilian life and is getting ready for an all-out war,” Thamilselvan said.

He accused the military of having been responsible for killing 148 Tamil civilians. The government has denied killing civilians and instead had accused the rebels of killing more than 70 security personnel since April.

“I stressed the need for the LTTE to participate” in peace talks, Akashi said. “Many are apprehensive that war might start again. I think it is the responsibility of everybody... to prevent an escalation of the conflict.”

Akashi met with President Mahinda Rajapakse in Colombo on Monday before heading for Kilinochchi.

Japan is Sri Lanka’s largest aid donor and has taken an interest in building peace on the island nation, where more than 150 people have died in violence since April, threatening to re-ignite a civil war that cost 65,000 lives before a cease-fire in 2002.

Meanwhile, the military yesterday seized a stockpile of arms and explosives, including seven anti-personnel mines weighing 10 kilograms each and three bags of explosives, from the northern Jaffna Peninsula, the military’s media unit said.

The military said it believes Tamil Tiger rebels may have kept the weapons to use against the Sri Lankan Army.

The government has blamed the rebels for a series of explosions which killed scores of army troops.

Both sides met for talks in Geneva in February for the first time in three years and agreed to meet again in April. But relations between the government and the rebels have since turned sour.

Last month, the insurgent group refused to participate in further talks, citing violence against the guerrillas and their supporters.

The Tamil Tigers have fought the government to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese-dominated state of discrimination.

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