SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka military opens roads to Tamil Tiger territory, ceases bombings on rebel targets

Record ID: 858840

  • Title: SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka military opens roads to Tamil Tiger territory, ceases bombings on rebel targets
  • Date: 27th April 2006
  • Summary: (BN04) NORTHERN JAFFNA, SRI LANKA (APRIL 26, 2006) (REUTERS) STREET IN JAFFNA TOWN
  • Embargoed: 12th May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sri Lanka
  • City:
  • Country: Sri Lanka
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEAH331DU4HZ19VG0GLEIGTHJM
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  • Story Text: Sri Lanka stopped bombing Tamil Tiger targets and reopened borders with rebel territory on Thursday (April 27) but fragmentation mine blasts killed five, police said, as the island teetered on the brink of war.
    The border crossings were closed by the army in the aftermath of the suicide attack in Colombo, effectively cutting off the northern government held enclave of Jaffna. On Wednesday (April 26) thousands of people were stranded and the normally busy crossing point was deserted.
    "The people at the bus stand said there we no buses up to the check point at Omanthe. They say the road is closed," said S. Sivapalam, a retired post master.
    Both sides vowed to retaliate if attacked again after heavy firing on Tuesday night (April 25) and on Wednesday (April 26) caused thousands to flee their homes and raised fears a 2002 ceasefire could collapse.
    If violence stops, diplomats say peace talks might still be possible. But if it resumes, they fear a return to a two-decade-old civil war that has killed more than 64,000.
    Peace mediator Norway, due to host a weekend meeting of Sri Lanka's other key donors the European Union, United States and Japan, said both sides had told them they wanted talks to happen.
    "We are working on the modalities for a meeting in Geneva -there have been lot of upsets in that area, but both parties have today told me that they want to go Geneva and that they are committed." Norwegian envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer told Reuters Television
    Police in the northern army-held Jaffna enclave said a suspected Tiger claymore mine blast killed two sailors. A second attack near the northwest coast killed three soldiers and wounded two, they said, while two policemen were hurt in a blast in the same area earlier in the day.
    Speaking on condition of anonymity, one senior government official said the halt in bombing was for humanitarian reasons and the raids could restart, but army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said claymore blasts would not provoke air attacks.
    People in the area have ignored a call by the pro-rebel organisation to leave the peninsula for rebel held areas. The call published in Jaffna newspapers also asked the people to move away from military establishments in the peninsula.
    "There will be no future in war. I have no idea to go to Wanni. We don't like to go from our home places" Kiribal Rajah, a Jaffna resident, said.
    Ratings agency Standard and Poor's has reduced its rating on the $20 billion economy on fears of renewed violence, but the stock market clawed higher on the lack of new bombing.
    In a statement on their official Web site, the Tigers called the government attacks "attempted genocide".
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