Japanese envoy meets rebel leader
In Kilinochchi, stronghold of the Tigers, Akashihad had talks with the head of the rebels' political wing. This is the umpteenth attempt to bring the government and LTTE to the negotiating table for peace talks. The bishop of Jaffna said: "The people are gripped by fear; the international community must intervene decisively."
Kilinochchi (AsiaNews/Agencies) A Japanese envoy to Sri Lanka is in Kilinochchi, the stronghold of the Tamil rebels, where he met the head of the separatists' political wing, S.P. Thamilselvan. Yashushi Akashi went to the northern zone controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) despite the refusal of the movement's leader, Prabhakaran, to meet him.
The trip is one in a series of attempts to bring the LTTE and government back to the negotiating table for peace talks. In February, the rebels abandoned the talks programmed in Geneva with Colombo, citing as a motivation the escalation of violence against them. The Tigers have been fighting for independence in the Tamil dominated north-east for 20 years.
Yesterday, Akashi met the president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse. One of his spokesmen limited himself to saying: "They discussed the present state of the peace process for an hour." Elsewhere, the Sinhalese Foreign Affairs Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, informed India about the same. The minister met the premier Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, together with other government officials.
Meanwhile, for two days now, the authorities have imposed a curfew in Jaffna peninsula, in the north-west, where anti-government rallies were planned. The initiative followed accusations by the rebels against the security forces, who they claim are guilty of the disappearance of eight Tamil men from a Hindu temple in Jaffna. The army deny all responsibility for the incident that took place last weekend.
In the east of the country, the situation continues to be tense. Here the Tigers maintain they are submitted to attacks by a breakaway faction, Karuna, backed by Colombo. The authorities deny involvement here too.
Akashi has visited Sri Lanka several times since 2002, when the cease-fire still holding but often violated by both parties was signed. In the last month alone, 100 people have been killed in the resurgence of violence.
Last Sunday, 7 May, Mgr Thomas Savundaranayagam, bishop of Jaffna, made himself the mouthpiece of the local population and made a strong appeal: "The Tamil people are paralysed by fear and insecurity. I appeal to the International Community to urgently intervene to pressure the parties involved to come for peace talks and to assess the reason why the cease-fire continues not to be respected."
.png)
