SRI LANKA: Thousands of people from all over Sri Lanka converged on capital for peace rally

Record ID: 214421

  • Title: SRI LANKA: Thousands of people from all over Sri Lanka converged on capital for peace rally
  • Date: 26th February 2006
  • Summary: SOUNDBITE (Sinhala) A.G. KUSUMAWATHI, RALLY ATTENDEE, SAYING: "We came here to support peace, so that our soldiers, the young people will be safe."
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sri Lanka
  • Country: Sri Lanka
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7C19IRSZJMYWQRS1EGAZ0BI11
  • Story Text: The rally organised by the National Anti-war Coalition culminated weeks of similar programmes through out the country to mark the fourth anniversary of the cease fire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers rebels.
    The ceasefire came close to collapsing during December and January with a series of deadly attacks on the security forces in the north and the east of the country. The Tamil rebels denied responsibility blaming it on civil organizations frustrated that normalcy has not return the north and east where the minority Tamils are a majority. The President of the National Anti-war Coalition, Dr. Kumar Rupasinghe, said the rally was aimed at giving a voice to a majority of the people who wanted peace in the country.
    "Ninety percent of the people oppose war. But they have been silent. The extremists, the five percent have taken to the streets. Now we want to show by taking to the streets that millions of people will take to the streets for peace," he added. The ceasefire was rescued when Norwegian peace facilitators persuaded the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels to start talks in Geneva this week. The two sides agreed to halt all violence and respect the ceasefire agreement and to hold a seconds round of talks in April "We came here to support peace, so that our soldiers, the young people will be safe," said 70 year old A.G. Kusumawathi. Over 64,000 people have been killed in two decades of civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government. The rebels are fighting to set up a separate tamil nation in the north and east of the Island. "There has been no real peace in this country. Now there is a chance that we could achieve real peace. We are here to support that," 48 year old S.D. Semapala said
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