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Sri Lanka’s peace bid suffers fresh blow from killing spree

COLOMBO: A weekend killing spree has compounded problems for Sri Lanka’s already troubled peace process and dimmed prospects of a deal on tsunami aid, diplomats and officials said Sunday.

Gunmen shot dead seven people in two separate incidents in the Eastern province Saturday, marking an upsurge in apparent clashes between rival Tamil Tiger rebel factions, military officials said.

The bloodletting came as Norway’s ambassador here, Hans Brattskar, met with the Tiger political leadership in the island’s north to discuss a way for the Tigers and Colombo to cooperate in distributing tsunami relief.

Diplomats close to the peace process said they had expected a breakthrough in setting up a “joint mechanism” to handle millions of dollars in foreign relief aid, but that appeared to have suffered a blow with the latest killings.

There was no immediate word from the Norwegians, who brought Colombo and the Tigers to the talks table after clinching a truce in February 2002, but sources said Oslo was also concerned about the deteriorating security situation.

Face-to-face talks have been on hold since April 2003, but both sides have agreed to honour the ceasefire. However, Brattskar expressed fears for the truce in the absence of talks, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in a statement.

“The Norwegian ambassador expressed his concern (over) the peace process without peace talks,” the LTTE said following talks with the top diplomat on Saturday. The Tigers said they also discussed the formation of a “common structure” to address the humanitarian needs of tsunami-affected areas within the rebel-held regions.

The international community had hoped the Colombo administration and the rebels could work out a mechanism to jointly handle the tsunami relief. They have been expecting a deal for weeks. afp

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