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The ceasefire and LTTE criminality

THE cold-blooded killing of Lieutenant Colonel R. Meedin, a senior officer of the Military Intelligence Corps, grimly underscores the continuing duplicity of the LTTE and exposes lingering debilitating limitations in the Ceasefire Agreement, which have time again been commented on.

Lieutenant Colonel Meedin was the 17th Intelligence Officer of the Sri Lankan law enforcers to be thus brutally killed and we roundly condemn this heinous act which speaks volumes for the murderous mindset and glaring ill-will of the LTTE, which is strongly suspected to be behind the gruesome slaying.

We urge the State to leave no stone unturned in their search for the killers of the Intelligence Officer who should be brought speedily to justice.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the international community, including in particular the Tokyo Donor Conference Co-Chairs, should at least now see the importance of bringing pressure on the Tigers to comply with the requirements of a peace culture which is essential for kickstarting and perpetuating the peace process.

Thus far, we have had no incontrovertible evidence that the Tigers are endowed with the qualities which are essential for an enterprise of this magnitude. As far as anyone could ascertain, the LTTE is in no mood for negotiations. On the contrary it seems to be constantly having murder on its mind. The big question is, how do we proceed in the direction of peace with a "stakeholder" of this kind?

It is very plain to see that the Tigers are merely paying lip service to peace. The Lankan State and the more discerning sections of the local public are not going to be fooled by these habitual posturings of the LTTE but we wonder whether the international community - including the SLMM - has not seen through it as yet.

Apparently, talking tough to the Tigers alone is unlikely to produce the desired results. Pressure should be brought on the LTTE to compel it to cooperate with the Lankan State to move in the direction of peace. Concrete measures that really "bite" need to be adopted by the concerned sections of the world community to compel conformance on the part of the LTTE with the requirements of the negotiatory process. The EU travel ban on LTTE personnel is one such measure but more substantive measures need to follow.

Meanwhile, the SLMM needs to seriously consider revising relevant terms of the Ceasefire Agreement - along with other important stakeholders - to enable more effective implementation of the accord.

From what could be gathered, the accord is riddled with loopholes which allow the LTTE to wax eloquent about peace while engaging in cold-blooded murder. Such conduct cannot be rationalised on any grounds.

The terms of the ceasefire should be so tightly worked out that there could be no excuses for the LTTE to engage in criminal acts. Besides, the SLMM should endow itself with a substantial ceasefire enforcement capability. Right now, unfortunately, the SLMM has been reduced to the condition of a pathetic onlooker as the LTTE continues on its murder spree.

This situation could no longer be allowed to continue. The ceasefire enforcement capability of the SLMM should be such that the LTTE would be effectively deterred from engaging in destructive acts. All these issues and more, we hope, would now be taken up for discussion by the stakeholders to the peace effort.

We do not make these comments with the aim of discrediting the search for peace and the Ceasefire Agreement, which have brought considerable dividends to all. We say this, with the intention of improving the country's peace prospects and rendering the ceasefire more effective.

Meanwhile, it cannot be emphasized enough that all precautions should be taken to ensure the safety and protection of our intelligence personnel and other relevant officers. We insist that nothing could be left to chance.

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