Conflict Resolution - Norwegian Conflict Resolution Initiative

CONFLICT RESOLUTION: TAMIL EELAM - SRI LANKA
Tracking the Norwegian Conflict Resolution Initiative

Fourth Session of Peace Talks in Thailand & Aftermath: 2003
10 January 2003	Norwegian Government Statement at Conclusion of Fourth Session "The parties recognized that the situation with regard to the High Security Zones involves major humanitarian and security concerns for both parties. Recent controversies surrounding this matter were discussed in depth. The parties did not reach agreement on the continuation of the work of the Sub-Committee on De-Escalation and Normalization"
12 January 2003	If Chandrika Returns to Power, it is back to war - Anton Balasingham
24 January 2003	Fifth Round of Talks switched to Germany from Thailand
25 January 2003	This is a permanent marriage claims Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando
27 January 2003	President Chandrika Kumaratunga in talks with Marxist JVP to sack Ranil's government and win fresh elections, party officials said
27 January 2003	Retired military chief of staff of the Indian Army says LTTE must deposit their weapons to neutral supervision.
27 January 2003	Report of Commander of the U.N. Peace Keeping Forces in former Yugoslavia, Satish Nambiar "No possibility of a review of Sri Lanka's northern High Security Zones (HSZs) unless the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) "deposits its weapons to neutral supervision and withdraws from frontline positions"
26 January 2003	LTTE seeks funds from Tamils in Switzerland to modernise army says Sinhala owned Sri Lanka Sunday Times
28 January 2003	President Kumaratunga orders IGP to act immediately on LTTE `abductions' and report within a week
28 January 2003	LTTE in renewed campaign to recruit youth from schools "We are involved in the current peace process merely to expose to the world that the Sinhala people (majority community) will not agree to a settlement that would be acceptable to the Tamil people (minority)... sections of the military and Buddhist clergy were among those who could hamper the peace process... Even if all these hurdles are overcome, and a just settlement is reached, no Sinhala political party is capable of mustering the required two-thirds majority in parliament to make it into law... Because of the ongoing power struggle between the Prime Minister and the President, she (Chandrika Kumaratunga) may dissolve parliament at any time and topple the peace process.."
28 January 2003	Sri Lanka builds new army camps in Varani and Chavakacheri
28 January 2003	LTTE rejects Indian General's terms on HSZs "We are not demanding demilitarisation or dismantling of camps or the reduction of troops. What we are asking the Government of Sri Lanka is to allow our people to return to their homes. It is the unconditional right of our people... any attempt to connect the return of refugees and IDP's to their own homes in the Jaffna Peninsula to the demobilisation of LTTE's fighting formations confined to barracks in Vanni jungles is illogical and ridiculous. Re-modification of ... the so-called ‘high security zones' to facilitate the return of the refugees and displaced is a cardinal obligation of the state. Sri Lanka can seek advice from any international expert without jeopardising its strategic and security concerns. But the LTTE will fiercely oppose and reject any proposal that makes resettlement of refugees conditional upon de-commissioning of LTTE weapons..."
29 January 2003	UK to double Sri Lanka aid as a sign of confidence in peace process
30 January 2003	Eastern Muslims demand traditional homeland reports Sinhala owned Sri Lanka Sunday Island "The student population in the East launching the biggest ever procession of Muslims in the history, numbering over 65000 yesterday, announced the ‘Oluvil Declaration’ at Oluvil which called for a separate Muslim region in the East claiming that the North-East was their traditional homeland."
30 January 2003	Ceasefire deal stands solid on the eve of first year anniversary says G.L.Pieris
31 January 2003	UN children's agency is trying to find out what Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels are doing about their child soldiers
31 January 2003	Focus on Sri Lanka war children " Local community leaders say child abduction is a way for the rebels to exercise psychological control over the people. They says it also sends a message to the government that the rebels are still prepared for war if the peace process fails."
1 February 2003	"We must not be complacent or naively optimistic: the peace process has a long way to go" says British Foreign Office Minister
1 February 2003	CBK will use powers to prevent violations by LTTE says Anura
2 February 2003	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ban northern Tamil school children from participating in Sri Lanka Independence Day celebrations
2 February 2003	What is Federalism? asks the Sinhala owned Sri Lanka Island "No amount of placating a murderer who has a diabolical hidden agenda will ever lead to lasting peace. Prabhakaran will never give up his dream and if the UNP and the PA are stupid enough to think that a serpent will lose its poison when fed with milk, they need their collective heads examined..."
2 February 2003	LTTE leader getting office in Eastern University Campus
2 February 2003	Government-LTTE relations dampened before Berlin talks says Sinhala owned Sri Lanka Sunday Island
2 February 2003	Visits to Germany, Italy, Belgium and Austria : Parliamentarians see European Federalism upfront "...LTTE and JVP, though invited, do not join. Delegation visited the European Academy in Germany which has a separate department to research on federalism..."
2 February 2003	India should not sit on the fence urges Sinhala owned Sri Lanka Sunday Island
2 February 2003	UNICEF not fooled by ‘mere assurances’ "the LTTE could prove they were serious about stopping recruitment - and about returning child combatants to their families - by developing a concrete action plan "
2 February 2003	Ominous Hostage Threat by LTTE "Chairman, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Batticaloa, Heikki Hulkkonen said last week that the LTTE has told the SLMM, for every child that escapes its baby brigades, it will take hostage another member of that family..."
3 February 2003	Tamils march against Sri Lanka Independence Day says BBC
3 February 2003	LTTE is using the 'Vietnam model of negotiations' and will give the security forces a send off says LTTE leader Balakumar " At the end of the Vietnam talks they signed an agreement.... They also got Nobel Prizes. The way things are going ‘Ranil Aiya’ will also get a Nobel Prize. Vietnam got liberated after the winning of the Nobel Prize. What we are doing now is diplomacy...Now the situation has changed.. Kofi Annan is coming... Today the Japanese, Akashi, has come to Kilinochchi. Everybody is coming to help us... we have got that recognition. Those who banned us are now considering the lifting of the ban..."
3 February 2003	University Teachers for Human Rights slams SLMM for its ineffectiveness in face of gross violations of Ceasefire Agreement by LTTE.
5 February 2003	Demand to De Commission LTTE weapons gathers steam
5 February 2003	'Independence Day was celebrated in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Batticaloa on a grand scale' claims Sinhala owned Sri Lanka Island
7 February 2003	Three Tamil Tiger rebels blow themselves up after Scandinavian truce monitors boarded their heavily armed boat... "The peace monitors disembarked before the explosion.. they said the discovery of an anti-aircraft gun, grenades and ammunition on board the ship was a "clear violation" of the truce signed last February..."