Putting the LTTE to the test

IN a statement which is likely to have a positive bearing on Lanka's peace prospects, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has called on the co-chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference to urge the LTTE to curb its ceasefire violations besides indicating the Government's willingness to review the ceasefire agreement through talks with the LTTE.

As is well known, an overwhelming number of ceasefire violations have been committed by the LTTE. Its current intransigence in particularly the East has brought the CFA under some strain and it is in the fitness of things that the Tokyo Conference Donor co-chairs, the US, the UK, Norway, the EU and Japan, impress on the LTTE, the urgent necessity of observing the CFA in both letter and spirit.

Some of these violations by the LTTE are - the recruitment to its ranks of under age children, the continued killing of persons opposed to the LTTE including intelligence operatives linked to law-enforcers and the gunning-down of soldiers and policemen. All these violations and more are indicative of a pro-war mindset in the LTTE and it goes without saying that this spirit of military aggression among the Tigers needs to change if the peace process is to be kickstarted.

In contrast to the LTTE, the Lankan Security Forces have exercised maximum restraint and their forbearance has helped greatly in perpetuating the CFA. We call on the Security Forces to persist in this spirit of forbearance on account of the critical bearing it has on the furtherance of the ceasefire.

However, there is no gainsaying the fact that hostile acts by the LTTE are bringing the ceasefire under considerable strain. Norway and the SLMM should be in a position to enlighten the foreign backers of our peace process on the facts relating to ceasefire violations. The continuous gunning-down of Armed Forces-linked intelligence operatives - for instance - could in no way be reconciled with the Tigers' professed peaceful intentions. The same goes for the recruitment of child soldiers and a general beefing-up of military capabilities by the LTTE.

It augurs well for the future of peace in Sri Lanka that the Government has expressed willingness to review the CFA through discussions with the LTTE. As the CFA enters its fourth year, it is becoming apparent that the terms of the agreement need to be tightened-up and any seeming loopholes sealed.

If the LTTE could continue to eliminate perceived opponents and claim brazenly that it has done nothing to violate the terms of the CFA, then, obviously, the agreement is in need of considerable firming-up.

The willingness of the President, therefore, to enter into talks with the LTTE to review the CFA, speaks eloquently of her sagaciousness because it would put the onus on the LTTE - if it is really desirous of peace - to work jointly with the State to upgrade the peace-keeping mechanism.

In fact, such collaboration between the State and the LTTE could act as a sound confidence - building process and register an overall improvement in Lanka's peace prospects.