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By V.S. Sambandan
The official denial, one of the first major such public moves by the Tigers, came on Friday at a press conference held by the LTTE's military and political leaders for the Trincomalee district. Pressing the case before the international community, `Col.' Pathuman, district military commander, and Thilak, political wing leader, reportedly described as "baseless and totally unfounded" the charges that the Tigers had set up 13 new camps. "There was not an iota of truth" in what was described as an "allegation spread by anti-peace elements, which are now very active in derailing the peace process". The controversy, which started with the LTTE's refusal to comply with a ruling by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to move out of a camp in the eastern Manirasakulam about 17 km south of Trincomalee a couple of months ago, has snowballed into a major political issue following, what the Opposition calls, internal reports by the Navy and Army that the Tigers had constructed several camps in the Trincomalee area, particularly around the rim of the strategically important harbour. The number of such camps was initially given at 13, but according to political sources, a subsequent military report said there were 22 such camps. Military sources declined to confirm or deny such reports. The east, with its near-equal ethnic mix, is the most volatile region posing a problem to the island's attempts to find peace, and a failure in the east preceded the collapse of all previous efforts at reaching a negotiated settlement between the Government and the LTTE. The issue is fast become a major controversy between Sri Lanka's two arch political rivals, the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ms. Kumaratunga, who is also the commander in chief of the armed forces, recently wrote to Mr. Wickremesinghe demanding an explanation. In his reply on September 17, Mr. Wickremesinghe said security would not be compromised and that his Government had, through meetings with Indian and U.S leaderships, increased defence cooperation as part of its international safety net for the peace process. Mr. Wickremesinghe also chided Ms. Kumaratunga for debating the issue through the media. "There are well-established modes of communication regarding the discussion of security issues on which there could be differences of view in a democratic polity and I, for one, wish to observe those time-honoured norms of behaviour," he said. The President's office, reacting to Mr. Wickremesinghe's letter, said it "contains many material inaccuracies which completely distort and misinterpret the facts of the matter". In addition to a spat at the island's highest level, the issue was described by the media as an example of the politicisation of the military as the military top brass had briefed, and shared the information with a senior Opposition MP on the directions of the President. Officials did not endorse the briefing by the military while military sources remain tight-lipped, saying they do not want to be dragged into a political crossfire. Against this politico-military backdrop in the south, the LTTE's district leaders told the media in the eastern town on Friday that the "anti-peace elements" counted their "political offices established after the ceasefire agreement as our military camps". The LTTE also denied involvement in killing of members of other Tamil groups. Charging that they were taking place in Government-held areas, the LTTE reportedly said: "we are answerable if the killings took place in areas under our control".
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