The Ceylon News

Cluster bombs have hit one of the last functioning hospitals in Sri Lanka's embattled northern region where people injured in the offensive against LTTE are being treated, raising further concerns over the safety of civilians in the war zone. "Cluster bombs have hit a hospital in the Wanni region," UN spokesman Gordon Weiss said without seen it.

Most of the UN staff (International) are trying to save their jobs if LTTE violence is continuing there, so they will talk like this non-processional stories without any investigation. it'll help to show they are keep working.

The UN report also claimed that at least 52 civilians were killed in shelling in Sri Lanka's embattled northern Wanni region forcing authorities to evacuate patients from one of the last functioning medical facilities in the war zone.

The attack came two days after the Government asked all civilians to enter the demarcated 'safety zone' as soon as possible, saying otherwise their security could not be guaranteed.

It is the first time cluster bombs are known to have been used in the war since the collapse of a Norway-brokered ceasefire in 2007.

"We hold the gravest fears for the safety of our staff and their families," Weiss said.

On Sunday, the civil hospital in Pudukudiyyiruppu in Tigers-controlled area was shelled killing 12 patients.

Hundreds of thousands of hapless civilians are caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan Army and LTTE in the north of the island.

The exact number of people trapped in the intense fighting is not cleary known with the government estimating the figure at 120,000 while the aid agencies say it is more.

Colombo, Feb 04: Worried over the worsening conditions of civilians in Sri Lanka's northern region, the donor countries led by Japan have called upon the LTTE to lay down arms and accept the government's amnesty.

The "co-chairs" of the Tokyo Donor Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka also called on both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to observe a temporary no–fire period.

The Tokyo Co-Chairs (Norway, Japan, US and the EU) yesterday admitted to their failure to persuade the LTTE to allow civilians freedom of movement in the areas held by them.

"International efforts to persuade the LTTE to allow the civilians freedom of movement have failed. There remains probably only a short period of time before the LTTE loses control of all areas in the North", the Tokyo co-chairs said in a release.

The co-chairs also called on the LTTE to discuss with the government of Sri Lanka the modalities for ending hostilities, including the laying down of arms, renunciation of violence, acceptance of the government of Sri Lanka's offer of amnesty and participating as a political party in a process to achieve a just and lasting political solution.

They also asked the government and the LTTE to declare a temporary no-fire period to allow for evacuation of sick and wounded, and provision of aid to civilians.

"The co-chairs call on the LTTE and the government of Sri Lanka not to fire out of or into the no-fire zone established by the government or in the vicinity of the PTK hospital in the Wanni (or any other medical structure), where more than 500 patients are receiving care and many hundreds more have sought refuge," the statement said.

Sri Lanka's president declared Wednesday that the country's Tamil insurgents are on the verge of total defeat, saying their demise has helped unite the island nation on the 61st anniversary of its independence.

"We are today a nation that has defeated a powerful enemy that stood before us," Mahinda Rajapaksa said in his independence day speech. "Our entire nation is now united in the shade of the national flag."

But in other parts of his speech, Rajapaksa indicated that the fight against the Tamil Tiger rebels was not over.

"I am confident that in a few days we will decisively defeat the terrorist force that many repeatedly kept saying was invincible," he said.

In another part of the speech, he said, government forces over the past two and a half years have "been able ... to almost completely defeat" the rebel forces.

Government troops and Tamil rebels are locked in a battle for the remaining rebel strongholds in the north of Sri Lanka, where the the country's ethnic Tamil minority has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1983.

Humanitarian groups say as many as 250,000 unprotected civilians are trapped in the area where the fighting is taking place, and the onslaught has intensified as government forces have closed in on the rebels.

Aid agencies have asked for increased access to the region, calling conditions in northern Sri Lanka a nightmarish situation.

The fighting has forced the closure of Pudukkudiyiruppu hospital in the Vanni region, the last functioning medical facility in the conflict zone.

Q: Where is Sri Lanka? What is the racial mix?

A: The Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka is located about 31km off the south eastern coast of India. It is a multi-ethnic country, with a population of 18 million people, most of whom are Buddhist and have been for more than 2,000 years. It also has a significant number of Hindus, Christians and Muslims besides a number of smaller communities such as the Burghers (descendents of European colonials) and the Veddas (aboriginals).

Are Sinhalese the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka? What about the Tamils? Where did they come from and when?

The original inhabitants of Sri Lanka were the Veddas, who are now concentrated in central hill region of the island.

The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka (called Tambroparne by the ancients) in late 6th century BC, probably from northern India. A few centuries later Buddhism was also brought in from India by missionaries sent by Ashoka, the Mauryan emperor. The religion flowered around Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 BC to circa AD 1000) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200).

The Tamil speaking population of Sri Lanka form two distinct groups. The main group is the so-called Sri Lankan Tamils whose ancestors arrived from southern India over more than two millennia. The other group is variously called Indian Tamils, Plantation Tamils, Hill Country Tamils or Estate Tamils. The ancestors of this group were brought in by the British to work on plantations in the central hills.

What are the main causes for the rift between the Sinhalese and Tamils?

Like most other conflicts in South Asia, the origins of this rift can be traced backed to colonial times.

The Sinhalese say Tamils received preferential treatment under British rule (1796-1948) and point to the disproportionate number of Sri Lankan Tamil civil servants, doctors and lawyers at the time of independence.

Although some nationalists do not agree with this view, many historians agree that the roots of the conflict stem from the "divide and rule" policy adopted by the British during their occupation of Sri Lanka. Correspondence filed in London's British Library gives credence to this claim.

The Sinhalese say Tamils received preferential treatment under British rule [GALLO/GETTY]

The reasons for Tamil predominance in the professions were many. The principal one was the large number of affordable English-language missionary schools set up in Jaffna and other Tamil areas in the north. Students attending these schools were much better equipped for university admissions than those from Sinhala schools.

The affirmative action steps the Sri Lankan government took to redress the situation favoured the Sinhalese and enraged Tamils who found themselves disenfranchised as a result.

Sri Lankan Tamils claim they have suffered years of ethnic cleansing since independence; is that true? What happened?

Sri Lankan Tamils claim that contrary to historical evidence, Sinhalese look upon them as interlopers and have tried in a number of ways to:
• disenfranchise them
• alter the demographics of Tamil dominated areas
• remove them from government employment
• reduce their access to higher education
• isolate Tamils from any support they might get from their brethren in India
• separate Sinhalas and Tamils
• ethnically cleanse Sri Lanka of Tamils

Was there always a demand for a separate Tamil homeland? If not, when did the demand take root?

Initially, the Tamils did not demand a separate homeland. After independence and till the 1970s, the Tamil leaders mostly demanded an autonomous province comprising the Tamil-speaking regions of the north and the east. Sri Lankan governments even signed two agreements to this effect, but then withdrew because of pressure from Sinhala nationalists.

Finally, when repeated discussions and agreements failed, Tamil leaders decided that a separate state was the only solution available. In 1974, all major parties representing Tamils came together under the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) banner. In 1976 the TULF adopted a resolution at Jaffna calling for a separate state, Tamil Eelam.

This move was driven by the educated, unemployed youth who felt that the Sinhalese-dominated government would never accede to their demands. To fight for their objective, they set up a number of armed organisations. One of them was the Tamil New Tigers, formed in 1972. It later became the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and then went on to dominate the civil war.

If LTTE was only one of a number of armed Tamil groups, what happened to the others? How did it become the dominant group?

Opinions about why the LTTE split with other Tamil groups differ [GALLO/GETTY]

Initially, as the LTTE was one of the many armed groups around the Jaffna peninsula, it operated in cooperation with others in their attacks on the Sri Lankan army and government targets. In April 1984, the LTTE joined with the other major armed groups - the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), and the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) to form the the Eelam National Liberation Front.

In February 1986, the LTTE launched a military attack on the TELO, the largest of the other armed Tamil groups. Over the next few months, the entire TELO leadership and several hundred volunteers were hunted down, and the group ceased to be a potent force. A few months later, the LTTE attacked training camps of the EPRLF, forcing it to withdraw entirely from the Jaffna peninsula.

There are differing opinions about the reasons for the LTTE's split with other Tamil groups. Some commentators have suggested that the rift was caused by LTTE's unhappiness over the fact that the most of the funding from Tamils overseas went to the TELO.

The LTTE themselves claimed that the rift was caused because of the connections the other groups had with India. However, all the Tamil groups, including the LTTE, had received varying degrees of support from India including help in setting up training camps.

The main reason possibly was that LTTE looked on India with suspicion, believing that in supporting the Tamil rebels it was only furthering its own agenda. It was particularly suspicious of the Indian intelligence agency, RAW, which it believed had infiltrated TELO and EPRLF, and was using these groups to eliminate the LTTE. It has also been suggested that LTTE believed the struggle for a separate or independent homeland would only be effective if the other groups, who were much more willing to compromise, were not around.

After cowing down others, the LTTE consolidated its position as the main armed group fighting for the cause of Tamil Eelam. Factors that aided the LTTE in gaining pre-eminence were its tough leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran; its strong ideological base; and its discipline and efficiency.

What about ceasefires and agreements between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE at various points; what happened to them?

Yes, there have been many agreements for ceasefire between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, but all of them collapsed for one reason or the other.

The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord: The first major agreement, the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed on July 29, 1987 by Rajiv Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, Junius Jyawardane, the then prime minister of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. According to this pact, the Sri Lankan government agreed to create a separate administrative unit for the northern and eastern Tamil-dominated areas.

This Tamil province was to have its own governor and elect its own provincial council with a chief minister and cabinet of ministers. The Sri Lankan Government also agreed to declare a general amnesty and lift the state of emergency. In return, the armed Tamil groups were to surrender their weapons and return to the political fold.

The Indian government in turn agreed not to give any further aid to Tamil fighters and to deploy a peacekeeping force (the IPKF) to supervise the disarming of Tamil groups.

The accord collapsed almost immediately after its signing and the IPKF quickly became embroiled in the civil war instead of merely acting as peacekeepers. It pulled out of Sri Lanka in 1990 after three years of conflict.

The Norway Mediation: The ceasefire agreement that lasted the longest was the pact between the LTTE and the government, signed on February 22, 2002 after Norwegian mediation.

Under this agreement, Norway and the other Nordic countries agreed to jointly monitor the ceasefire through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. Despite scores of violations, the ceasefire lasted for almost five years but finally collapsed on December 3, 2006 when Norway refused to be an intermediary anymore

Sri Lanka's key international donors have urged Tamil Tiger rebels to disarm and discuss ending hostilities in order to avoid more civilian casualties.

The US, EU, Japan and Norway said it would probably not be long before the rebels lost all territory they control.

Both sides "should recognise that further loss of life... will serve no cause", the nations said.

Sri Lanka's government says it is close to defeating the rebels. There was no immediate response from the Tigers.

Up to 250,000 civilians may be trapped by the fighting.

Separately, the army says it has found an underground bunker complex it believes was one of the hideouts of the top leader of the Tamil Tigers.

'Sovereignty'

Norway, Japan, the US and the EU are described as the Tokyo Co-Chairs. They sat at the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka in 2003, which raised $4.5bn in aid pledges that were linked to progress in the peace process.

The BBC's Ethirajan Anbarasan in Colombo says this is the first time the influential quartet has issued such an appeal to the Tamil Tigers.

It is also the first international acknowledgement that the rebels may be near to defeat.

In a joint statement, the quartet expressed "great concern" for the plight of civilians.

INSURGENCY TIMELINE 1976: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam form in the north-east 1987: India deploys peace-keepers to Tamil areas but they leave in 1990 1993: President Premadasa killed by Tiger bomb 2001: Attack on airport destroys half Sri Lankan Airlines fleet 2002: Government and rebels agree ceasefire 2005: Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes president 2006: Heavy fighting resumes 2009: Army takes main rebel bases of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu In pictures: Inside 'Tiger bunker' Sri Lanka journalists 'risk death' Voices from Sri Lanka

They urged the rebels to "discuss with the government of Sri Lanka the modalities for ending hostilities, including the laying down of arms, renunciation of violence, acceptance of the government of Sri Lanka's offer of amnesty; and participating as a political party in a process to achieve a just and lasting political solution".

The nations also urged both sides to "declare a temporary no-fire period to allow for evacuation of sick and wounded, and provision of aid to civilians".

The Sri Lankan government has previously ruled out any ceasefire and has vowed to crush the rebels.

The Tigers have said they will not lay down their arms until they have a "guarantee of living with freedom and dignity and sovereignty".

The Tokyo Co-Chairs said both sides "must respect international humanitarian law". They said they would help transfer internally displaced people to humanitarian camps.

The statement called on all combatants not to fire on a hospital in Tiger-held territory which has been shelled repeatedly.

The Red Cross says the hospital in Puthukkudiyiruppu town in Mullaitivu district has been hit five times in the past few days, leaving at least 12 civilians dead. One strike was on a paediatric ward, it said.

The hospital is one of the last functioning health facilities in the area.

The government says it is not responsible for the attacks and has told civilians to leave the war zone. Pro-rebel websites blame the army.

Bunker

Sri Lanka's military said there was no sign of the rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the bunker found in the north-east.