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Chop for Army, choppers for LTTE
A Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 212 helicopter took off from its base in Hingurakgoda, near Minneriya, on Friday on a special mission. The first touch down was in Batticaloa. There Banu (Somasekeran Sivananthan), the military wing leader for the district boarded the helicopter with two colleagues, Marshal and Kukanthan. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has tasked Banu to restore full military control in this eastern district. This was after their leader for the eastern province Karuna (Vinaya-gamoorthy Muralitharan) parted ways.
Since then, cadres loyal to the Wanni leadership have been fighting bitter gun battles with the renegade faction causing deaths and injuries to those on both sides. Banu was moved into the Batticaloa district after his predecessor, Ramesh was found to be wanting.
The helicopter then took off from Batticaloa and headed northwards. Some twenty minutes later, it landed in Sampur in the Trincomalee district. This village alongside Kattaiparichchan and Mutur overlooks the Trincomalee Harbour.
It is here that the Sri Lanka Navy has repeatedly complained to the Ministry of Defence of a guerrilla military build up. The Navy fears that mortar positions along the Sampur coast together with other encampments could be used to effectively block movement of their vessels in and out of this strategic harbour. That would mean a virtual blockade of troops and supply movements to the Jaffna peninsula.
Boarding the helicopter there was Sornam (Soosaipillai Joseph Anthonydas) military wing leader for Trincomalee and colleagues Sudaroli and Ragulan. Sornam was moved to Trincomalee to replace Pathuman (Sivasubra-maniam Varathan), a close associate of Karuna. Since the latter broke ranks, Pathuman was relieved as military commander of the Trincomalee district. The SLAF helicopter was airborne again with six guerrillas on board. It later touched down at the Central College Grounds in Kilinochchi.
By then, the top level consultations between Norwegian facilitators and LTTE leadership to carry the peace process forward had ended in the Wanni. That was on Thursday. It was thereafter that the Secretariat Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) received a request from the LTTE ( through the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo) for a helicopter. Their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had summoned a meeting of "area commanders" and the presence of the military leaders for Batticaloa and Trincomalee was felt essential.
It is a known fact that Tiger guerrilla cadres are still battling renegade factions in the Batticaloa district. It is through the Trincomalee district; across the Verugal River that re-inforcements have been pumped to guerrilla controlled areas in Batticaloa. The recent weeks have seen a further strengthening of the LTTE's military muscle in the area.
It is in this backdrop that Mr. Prabhakaran spoke to his military commanders on Friday. Also on hand was his close confidant and chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham. It was only on Thursday Mr. Balasingham declared at a news conference in Kilinochchi "we have conveyed a message to her (to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga) on how to take the peace process forward." Having made the LTTE's position clear to Norwegian facilitators, he boarded a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter together with his Australian born wife Adele and another described as a Special Assistant.
They arrived in Colombo yesterday morning and later boarded a London bound flight. Before his departure, Mr. Balasingham met with Norwegian Special Advisor, Erik Solheim at a waiting room of the Bandaranaike International Airport. There Mr. Solheim briefed Mr. Balasingham on President Kumaratunga's response to the LTTE's message.
There was a mild diversion when two Norwegian security officers wanted to enter the airport area with their weapons. They were advised to leave their weapons which they readily obliged. Thereafter they were allowed entry.
Although Mr. Balasingham told Thursday's news conference the Norwegians "have told us not to speak about it (the proposal to take the peace process forward) to the press until they discuss it with the Sri Lankan President, the details began to trickle. This was soon after the leader of the Norwegian team, Foreign Minister, Jan Petersen briefed President Kumaratunga.
The Sunday Times learnt that the LTTE's latest proposal "to take the peace process forward" entails a request for President Kumaratunga to make a public statement. That no doubt is to set out the UPFA Government's categorical position incorporating a southern consensus. This was in return for a Tiger guerrilla response. The LTTE has insisted on an Interim Self Governing Authority. But hitherto she has steered clear of the ISGA in her negotiating stance offering to discuss only an "interim authority."
If the official response is any indication to go by, President Kumaratunga declared her Government will "remain in close contact with the Norwegian facilitators on the question." The "question" is referred to in the official statement as "the LTTE views on the steps to be adopted towards the resumption of direct negotiations with the Government of Sri Lanka."
The Sunday Times Political Editor deals with this aspect and the latest Norwegian peace efforts in his column on the opposite page. The airlifting of both Banu and Sornam in a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter brings to the fore an important issue - whether the Government, or for that matter, the Peace Secretariat has a criteria on the issue of helicopters to the LTTE.
When the present UPFA leaders were in the opposition, they strongly criticised the previous United National Front government for making available helicopters. Then, it was largely for LTTE leaders to arrive at the Colombo airport to board flights to travel abroad. However, soon after being voted to power, the UPFA has not only followed this practice but also continued to allow requests for helicopters to ferry guerrilla leaders from the east to Kilinochchi for meetings. Even if the visits of Banu and Sornam were directly related to the peace process, which does not seem to be the case, there have been occasions when such flights were for other reasons.
One such example is the use of an Air Force helicopter to bring to Kilinochchi the one time LTTE "military commander" for Batticaloa, Ramesh. This move saw him being relieved of his functions as the "military leader" in the district and the appointment thereafter of Banu. In this instance, the Government used an Air Force helicopter to help the LTTE in one of their military tasks. Should they not have been called upon to pay for that trip? After all, the LTTE is known to be earning vast sums of money through "taxes"of all forms.
Paradoxical enough, even the Government of Sri Lanka is contributing to these "taxes" and thus to a so called "LTTE" economy. An example is the state owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) which now pays a transport contractor to move fuel supplies to the North and East including military and police establishments. Earlier, fuel was denied to areas that were dominated by the LTTE. Fuel supplies to the northern Jaffna peninsula were by tanker from the port of Trincomalee to Kankesanthurai.
The transport contractor's fee includes "taxes" imposed by the LTTE for using the Alpha Nine (A-9) highway. Similarly all business establishments in Colombo moving goods along the A-9 are required to pay "taxes" at LTTE check-points in Omanthai (the Wanni end) and at Muhamaial (Jaffna end). Besides raising revenue from these sources, the LTTE also imposes "taxes" on persons passing through their check-points on the goods they carry.
