Word: ltte
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...attempt to protect "national security" as she claimed. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's return to Colombo three days later and his triumphant procession to the cheers of tens of thousands were, his supporters agree, premature victory celebrations. To the north, the decision by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to recall 180 of its guerrillas from "family leave" is, Wickremesinghe tells TIME, actually a cover for rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's convening of a council of senior commanders to discuss, among other options, remobilizing for war. But whatever the gap between fiction and reality developing on this blighted paradise...
...squarely on President Kumaratunga. "She took these decisions alone... to take power into her own hands," says Mahinda Rajapakse, vice president of Kumaratunga's People's Alliance party. A Colombo-based diplomat says international observers were "flabbergasted" by the timing of Kumaratunga's moves. Just three days earlier, the LTTE had injected new life into a peace process that had been moribund since talks were broken off in April by submitting a comprehensive set of demands to Colombo. While uncompromising, the LTTE proposals were only a starting point for negotiations, the diplomat stresses. Moreover, for the first time the Tigers...
Soon after taking over as Prime Minister in December 2001, Ranil Wickremesinghe lifted a long-standing government embargo that had impoverished the LTTE-controlled north and east. Opponents accused him of endangering national security, but the gamble paid off. Three months later, the rebels, in part encouraged by his gesture, signed a formal cease-fire. TIME's Aravind Adiga met with the PM at his official residence in Colombo...
...TIME: The peace talks have been stalled since April. Is the LTTE serious about ending the bloodshed? Wickremesinghe: The fact that they have given a detailed set of proposals-for the first time in the history of the LTTE-means they want to start talking. They want to do business. It's also going to be a tough negotiation. It can break down once or twice...
...TIME: Some fear that the LTTE is using the cease-fire to strengthen itself. Wickremesinghe: There's no sign of the LTTE getting ready for war. We've also allowed the Sri Lankan army to build up. We've discussed the matter with the commanders of the armed forces, and they're confident they can handle any eventuality...