Norway peace bid dims as Sri Lanka braces for pogrom

Norway peace bid dims as Sri Lanka braces for pogrom

COLOMBO (Agencies): Norway's attempt to broker peace in Sri
Lanka suffered a major blow as Tamil Tiger rebels called off
their unilateral truce and troops braced for more bloodshed,
diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
announced they will end the one-sided ceasefire from midnight
Tuesday after having observed it for four months in a bid to push
the Norwegian peace bid.

The rebel announcement made late Monday prompted Sri Lankan
authorities to place police and security forces on red alert amid
fears of an escalation in fighting in the island's embattled
north, and the capital Colombo.

"The army did not lower the guard earlier, but with the new
development, the Tigers may try to escalate attacks to make a
point," a military field commander in the north of the island
said by telephone.

He added that troops manning defense lines were bracing for
rebel assaults while random checks in populated areas were being
stepped up to prevent bomb attacks by the Tigers.

The LTTE said in a statement on Monday that government forces
had taken advantage of their one-sided truce and killed more than
160 rebels and wounded over 400 during the truce period.

"While our unilateral ceasefire provided the basis for hope
and optimism and brought four months of peace and stability to
the Sinhala south, the same period has brought war, violence,
death and destruction among the Tamils in the northeast," the
LTTE said.

However, the government said on Tuesday that it was still open
to Norwegian-sponsored peace talks although the Tamil Tiger
rebels have announced an end to a unilateral truce they had
adopted on Christmas Eve.

"The doors are open for talks with or without a truce," said
Ariya Rubasinghe, the government spokesman. "The government did
not ask for a truce."

"The government is concerned about their activities but
security remains as per normal," he said, saying no new measures
were needed to protect the capital from a fresh bombing campaign.

The Norwegian embassy said their peace envoy to Sri Lanka,
Erik Solheim, was not scheduled to visit Colombo this week
contrary to media reports here that he was due to brief President
Chandrika Kumaratunga Wednesday.

"He (Solheim) is not expected here this week or the next," an
embassy spokesman said.

Diplomatic sources said Norway's attempts suffered a set back
following the hardening of positions by the LTTE and the Sri
Lankan government which insists that there can be no
preconditions for talks.

In its latest statement, the LTTE launched a scathing attack
against the U.S., Britain, European nations and neighboring India
for not pressuring the Sri Lankan government to reciprocate the
unilateral truce.

The government had earlier said that a timetable for
Norwegian-backed peace talks with the LTTE would be announced by
the end of this month.

However, with the sudden withdrawal of the LTTE from the
truce, political analysts and diplomats here said they feared the
process may be further delayed and a first meeting put back
beyond May.

"Instead of commending and promoting our peace offensive, some
international governments have imposed proscription and other
restrictions against us," the LTTE said.

The Tigers were referring to the February proscription against
them in Britain under London's new anti-terrorism laws. The US
banned the LTTE in October 1997, and India in the early 1990s.

The Tigers were banned by the Sri Lankan government in January
1998, after the group was accused of bombing the holiest Buddhist
shrine in the central town of Kandy.

Two weeks ago, the LTTE said they wanted the government to
lift the ban on them, remove economic sanctions and reciprocate
the truce before entering the Norwegian-backed peace talks.