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JVP plea on ceasefire turned down

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal on Tuesday turned down a bunch of petitions, including the one by the ultra nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), challenging the legal validity of the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA).

Brokered by Norway, the deal was signed by Ranil Wickremasinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakaran in February 2002.

The Court ruled that the petitioners had no basis to challenge the legality of the CFA and that it had no jurisdiction to issue a writ.

The CFA that completed five years last fortnight is reduced to a piece of paper in the wake of stepped up hostilities between the military and the LTTE, particularly in the last eight months.

The petitioners had contended that one of the respondents — Ranil Wickremasinghe in his capacity as Prime Minister — was not empowered constitutionally to sign the agreement and that he should have obtained the Executive President's permission before doing so.

Resettlement

The Government-run Daily News claimed that the resettlement of 4,000 families of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the Vaharai region captured from the Tamil Tigers in January third week would commence immediately.

The displaced have been living in various camps for the last five months.

Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Risath Bathiyutheen told the paper that the Ministry's sub office had been set up at the Batticaloa Kachcheri.

The police have introduced a special identity card system for the identification of resettled persons.

The Government and military are keen on resettlement while ensuring that the Tigers do not return clandestinely, he said.

The Thirappane police in Anuradhapura district have recovered five bodies with burns on Tuesday. The spate of killings and abductions has been a cause of major concern and panic.

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