Black flags in Tamil city of Jaffna as Sri Lanka president calls

Black flags in Tamil city of Jaffna as Sri Lanka president calls
for a new start for war-battered nation

Agencies
Colombo

For the first time in 20 years, Sri Lanka marked its independence
day on Tuesday without the specter of civil war.

But in the once troubled Jaffna Peninsula, home to most of Sri
Lanka's 3.2 million Tamil minority, the mood was subdued. Black
flags fluttered over homes as most refused to take part in the
government-arranged celebrations.

Thousands turned out for Tuesday's celebration in Colombo --
the first since February's historic cease-fire between the
government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Lights and decorations were festooned throughout the capital
-- targeted in the past by rebel suicide bombers. A 21-gun salute
kicked off the celebration, which included dancing school
children and marching soldiers.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga, dressed in a cream-colored
silk sari, inspected an honor guard.

Kumaratunga called on her people to leave behind the violence
that has scarred the once idyllic island country.

"It is now time for all of us to put the war behind us and
look to a future where we would recognize and respect the rights
and aspirations of all our communities," Kumaratunga said in a
speech celebrating Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948.
Kumaratunga also said her country still struggled to unify.

"We have failed to build on our strengths and evolve into a
modern and pluralistic nation. The failure metamorphosed existing
conflicts into a violent armed conflict," she said of the 19-year
civil war that pitted the Tamil rebels against the Sri Lankan
military since 1983.

The Tamil rebels wanted an independent state in the Jaffna
Peninsula, saying they were discriminated against by the 14
million Sinhalese. The rebels now say they are willing to accept
self-rule in Tamil majority areas.

Tamils in Jaffna boycotted the national holiday, saying their
independence has yet to be won.

Kumaratunga on Tuesday asked her government to unveil its
plans for a final peace deal with Tiger rebels as Tamil regions
boycotted the country's independence day celebrations.

Unsigned posters in the island's Tamil-dominated Vavuniya
region, 256 kilometers north of Colombo, protested the
celebrations saying minority Tamils did not enjoy freedom.

A cultural show organized at a local Tamil school was also
canceled, officials said, adding that they suspected members of
the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) may have been
behind the boycott.

However, there was no official word from the LTTE on the
country's celebrations marking the 55th anniversary of
independence from Britain. The Tigers are currently engaged in
peace talks with the government.

Kumaratunga, who is bitterly opposed to her cohabitation
administration's handling of the Norwegian-backed peace process,
said it was time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed his
plans to the nation.

"All the stakeholders in government and parliament, as much as
all our peoples, must be kept informed of the policy framework
the government wishes to employ to achieve peace.

"In short, the vision and action plan must even now be clearly
formulated and presented to the country," Kumaratunga said in an
address to the nation.

She asked the prime minister, an arch political rival, to
launch a "deep study of the causes for the setbacks and failures
encountered in the past one year."

Kumaratunga stressed that core political issues underlying the
decades-old Tamil separatist conflict must be addressed to
achieve a lasting peace in a country where more than 60,000
people have been killed in fighting since 1972.

This year's celebrations marking the anniversary of
independence from Britain were held without the fear of rebel
attacks.