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Co-Chairs reviewing Sri Lanka situation

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Concern at failure to abide by ceasefire

COLOMBO: Co-Chairs of Sri Lanka, a representative body of 58 donor countries, are now meeting in Washington to review the situation in the island nation and consider steps to nudge the Government and the LTTE to halt fighting and pave the way for a conducive atmosphere for talks.

It was at the behest of the Co-Chairs that the two sides met, unsuccessfully though, in Geneva on October 28 and 29. The talks collapsed after the LTTE insisted on lifting the blockade of A 9 highway, which links the Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the country.

The Co-Chairs are concerned over the failure of both sides to honour their commitment to abide by the 2002 ceasefire agreement and the growing travails of citizens, particularly in the north and east, due to the unending fighting.

A recent report of the United Nations envoy, Allan Rock, on the alleged complicity of a section of the Sri Lankan forces in conscription of children for the Karuna group is expected to figure at the Washington conference.

In a bid to pre-empt an adverse statement by the Co-Chairs on closure of A 9, President Mahinda Rajapaksa late Sunday night directed authorities to open the trunk road as a `one-time measure' to facilitate flow of essential goods to meet shortages in Jaffna.

However, there was confusion over how the directive would be implemented. The Government said that only at designated time and date (s) would goods be allowed. The road would not be open to passenger traffic.

"Lorries transporting goods will be sealed and once they reach Jaffna the seals will be opened in the presence of representatives of civilian and religious organisations and government authorities," the Presidential Secretariat said.

The Government said that under the coordination of the Security Forces, a convoy of 14 vehicles carrying milk powder and medical supplies along with five ambulances left the Kadjuwatta roadblock for the LTTE-held Vaharai on Monday afternoon.

"Fifteen organisations along with ICRC and UNICEF initiated relief measures to bring trapped civilians to cleared areas from Vaharai and to take 63 stranded civilians in cleared areas to LTTE-controlled areas." The military said indiscriminate artillery and mortar attacks by the Tigers on security force detachments in Mankerni and Kadjuwatta since last month displaced thousands of civilians.

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