Sri Lanka's Rebels Threaten More Attacks

The Associated Press

May 12, 2006

Sri Lanka's Rebels Threaten More Attacks on Sri Lankan Navy Boats, European Truce Monitors

By DILIP GANGULY

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Tamil rebels on Friday threatened more attacks on Sri Lankan navy vessels if they approach coastal areas under rebel control, a day after a major sea battle.

The rebels warned European truce monitors not to board government boats.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, launched an attack Thursday in 15 small boats against a navy convoy escorting a troop carrier with 710 soldiers aboard, navy spokesman Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said. The European-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said a truce monitor was in the troop carrier when it was attacked.

One of the Navy boats escorting the vessel was destroyed by a suicide boat attack. The battle left about 50 insurgents and 17 sailors all of them on the destroyed navy boat dead or missing, Dassanayake said. A pro-rebel Web site said the insurgents lost only four guerrillas in the battle.

The Navy said Friday that it had recovered seven bodies, one identified as a sailor and the rest still unidentified.

The new threat from the Tigers Friday came in a letter to the truce monitors posted on the rebel Web site.

The navy's activities off the coast of Tamil Tiger-held areas are "disrupting the fishing activities of the people. It is also disturbing the LTTE exercises," the letter said.

"If (the) Sri Lankan navy disrupts our activities, we will definitely retaliate," it said.

The rebels accused the navy of using the monitors as "human shields" and warned the monitors to stay away from the conflict zone.

"We urge you for the last time not to be on board Sri Lankan naval vessels until further notice from us. If you chose to ignore our warning and request, we are not responsible for the consequences," the rebels said.

Thursday's clash marked a sharp escalation of violence in a country already teetering on the brink of civil war and put the most severe strain yet on a 2002 truce that halted two decades of warfare.

Government troops retaliated by sinking five rebel boats and launching airstrikes on guerrilla-held territory.

More than 150 people have died in Sri Lankan violence since the beginning of April, and recent attempts to restart stalled peace talks have failed.

The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. More than 65,000 people died in the conflict before the truce.

About 60 unarmed European monitors oversee the truce in the north and east of the country.

Both the government and the monitors accused the Tigers of violating the cease-fire accord and the monitoring force said it considered the Thursday attack a direct threat to their peace mission.

"This sort of reckless behavior can only lead to a dangerous escalation resulting in growing hostilities and jeopardizing any possibility for future peace talks," the monitors said in a statement.

The head of the rebel political wing, S.P Thamilselvan, met with chief truce monitor Ulf Henricsson in the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi on Friday.

Afterward, Thamilselvan criticized mission officials for calling Thursday's attack a violation of the cease-fire accord and demanded an explanation.

"Nobody has the right to pass judgment on the sovereign rights of our access to the adjacent sea and air space of our homeland," the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site quoted Thamilselvan as saying.

After the clash, police tightened security in the capital, Colombo, where tens of thousands prepared to celebrate the birth of Buddha. Armed soldiers were posted at some intersections where colorful artwork depicted the life and teaching of Buddhism's founder.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.