[TamilNet, March 22, 2001 11:44 GMT]
Tigers extend cease-fire, warn Sri Lankan over attacks
The Liberation Tigers Thursday extended their unilateral
cease-fire for another month, till April 24, but warned they would
resume armed operations if the Sri Lankan government refused to
reciprocate and continued military operations against the LTTE.
Pointing out that it has not launched any offensive operations either
in the north-east or the southern provinces or capital, Colombo,
during the three months of its unilateral cease-fire, the LTTE said in
a statement that 133 of its fighters had been killed in attacks by the
Sri Lankan military in the same period.
The full text of the LTTE's press release follows:
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an official
statement issued from its headquarters in Vanni, northern Sri Lanka,
extended its unilateral cessation of hostilities for another month
from 24th March 2001 to 24th April 2001. The organisation also warned
the Sri Lankan government that the LTTE reserved the right to
terminate its self-imposed truce if the Sinhalese regime refuses to
reciprocate positively to the goodwill gesture and continue with
hostile armed operations and aerial bombardments.
The Liberation Tigers have been rigidly observing
cease-fire for the last three months since Christmas Eve last year in
spite of the provocative military operations by the Sri Lankan armed
forces and derogatory and dismissive remarks made by the Kumaratunga
government. To impress upon the Sri Lankan government and the
international community its serious commitment to peace, the Tamil
Tigers have been extending the cessation of hostilities on a monthly
basis while calling upon the Sinhalese regime to respond positively to
its gesture of goodwill. The Government of Chandrika Kumaratunga has
been rejecting the LTTE’s peace offer as a ‘political gimmick’.
“The LTTE leadership has decided to extend its
self-imposed truce for another month to help to generate a congenial
atmosphere of peace and to provide further time and space for the
Norwegian facilitatory efforts to bring the parties in conflict to the
negotiating table. Our decision to cease all armed hostilities for a
further period of time was taken in recognition of the collective
aspirations of our people for peace, normalisation of civilian life
and negotiations on the basis of self-determination”, the LTTE’s
statement declared.
“We regret to note that the Government of Kumaratunga has
not, as yet, reciprocated favourably to our peace offensive. Rather it
has dismissed our positive step as a ‘political stunt’ to conceal our
‘military weakness’. Taking advantage of our defensive posture under
our unilateral cessation of hostilities the Sri Lankan armed forces
have been consistently and systematically unleashing armed operations
against our fighters. From the Christmas Eve cease-fire until now
133 LTTE fighters have been killed by the Sri Lankan armed
forces in various offensive assaults, ambushes, air strikes, artillery
bombardments and naval attacks. During these provocations we strictly
confined ourselves to a defensive war. Sri Lanka government should
accept the fact that the LTTE has not embarked on any offensive
military actions in the North-eastern theatre of war, nor has it
unleashed any armed operations or violent attacks in Colombo and in
the Southern provinces. It is because of our strict observance of
cease-fire, there is relative peace and stability in the capital and
in the Sinhala south. We note with deep dismay that the Kumaratunga
Government has not taken our goodwill gesture seriously in a positive
sense but rather ridiculed it as a ‘farce’”, the LTTE’s official
statement observed.
“With the acquisition of new fleets of supersonic bombers
from Russia and Israel, the Sri Lankan airforce has been
systematically pounding the coastal villages of Mullaitivu and Mannar
and has inflicted heavy casualties among poor Tamil fishermen causing
massive scale destruction of their dwellings, boats and nets. In an
incident yesterday, four civilians were killed and eleven were
seriously injured when air force jets indiscriminately bombarded
coastal villages of Chundikulam and Mathalan in the Mullaitivu
district. We registered our strongest protest to President Kumaratunga
through our Norwegian peace envoy over the intensification of aerial
bombardment in the Tamil civilian areas. In this context we wish to
warn the Sri Lankan government that we reserve the right to terminate
our self-imposed truce if it refuses to de-escalate the war and
continue with its armed offensive operations including air strikes”,
the LTTE declared.
The LTTE has also expressed serious reservations over the
foreign policy determinations of the international community
particularly the United States, Britain, European nations and India,
towards the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict. “By supporting Sri Lanka with
financial and military assistance and by condemning and criminalising
the Tamil struggle as a phenomenon of ‘international terrorism’ these
international Governments are not in anyway contributing to the
promotion of peace and ethnic reconciliation in the island but rather
encourage the hardline militaristic approach of a repressive racist
regime against the aggrieved and oppressed Tamil nation. It is a
tragic paradox that under the cover of eradicating ‘international
terrorism’, the most powerful nations of the world have turned against
the most oppressed sections of humanity who are alienated and helpless
yet waging a fair, just and legitimate struggle for their
emancipation”, the LTTE’s statement concluded.
[TN/2001032203] © TamilNet 2001