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Tamil Tigers swap guns for politics as ceasefire holds

Peter Popham
Tuesday 09 April 2002 00:00 BST
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The pack ice of Sri Lankan politics showed signs of shifting yesterday, as the A9Highway through the north of the island was reopened all the way to Jaffna for the first time in 12 years.

The Tamil Tigers, waging war for a separate Tamil state in the former British colony since 1983, opened a political office in the frontline town of Vavuniya last week. It wasinaugurated by a Sinhalese, Harsha Navaratna, who works for a non-governmental relief agency, in a symbolic act ofreconciliation.

These are the first fruits of a ceasefire between the Tigers and the new Sri Lankan government that has now held for more than three months. The shabby and impoverished town of Vavuniya has been the end of the road for Sinhalese civilians for years, even though 30,000 government troops occupy the Jaffna peninsula in the far north.

Beyond Vavuniya, government forces have battled incessantly to defeat the Tigers' militarily, so that the state could re-establish dominion over the northern part of the island, whose population is overwhelmingly Tamil.

That was the chief goal of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, but she made little headway. The ruthless and dedicated guerrillas of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were dug in all over the north-east.

The raw recruits of the Sri Lankan army were no match for them, and fled in droves. But the blood between Mrs Kumaratunga and the Tigers was too bad for any shift in policy. During a previous election campaign, she was nearly killed by a Tiger suicide bomber.

Mrs Kumaratunga remains President, but has been sidelined since losing badly to Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Front in a general election last December. Mr Wickremesinghe is now Prime Minister. The two sides continued fighting until the ceasefire was signed on 23 February.

And in a defiant gesture, Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tiger supremo, has refused to attend a joint signing ceremony suggested by Norwegian peace-brokers on the island. Instead he signed the document in his jungle hide-out then sent the document to Colombo for endorsement by the Prime Minister.

Peace talks are scheduled to begin with Norway's mediation in Thailand next month. Vidar Helgesen, Norway's deputy foreign minister, is expected to visit the rebels' stronghold in the northern town of Vanni next week. So the great Sri Lankan peace process has yet to reach first base.

The government and the rebels have got to the talking stage before. But Mr Prabhakaran, who murdered the Mayor of Jaffna while still a teenager and who has shown no compunction in liquidating Tamil voices of moderation and reason, has shown an aversion to compromise in the past. The stated aim of the Tigers is their own independent state in the island. Even Mrs Kumaratunga was prepared to offer substantial autonomy. But so far, Mr Prabhakaran has preferred to hold out for everything. Why should this time be any different?

Mr Prabhakaran is older, and has been trying to moderate his public image, shaving off his bushy moustache, smiling for the camera, exchanging combat fatigues for shirts and ties. Tomorrow he will stage a news conference in the jungle. Although the Tamils' struggle continued to command vast support from the Tamil diaspora, the global climate for terrorist leaders has changed.

If Mr Prabhakaran desires any international respectability, this may be his best chance.

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