The Hindu : Front Page : Sri Lankan government proscribes LTTE

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Thursday, Jan 08, 2009
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Sri Lankan government proscribes LTTE

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday night proscribed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the ground that it has been holding civilians as human shield in the north where the military is engaged in war with the Tigers.

A Cabinet meeting presided by President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to ban the LTTE after it failed to respond to the request of Mr. Rajapaksa to allow civilians in the areas under its control to cross over into the government territory or face proscription.

Long over due

The ban has been long over due particularly after the Sri Lankan government unilaterally terminated the Norwegian-brokered 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) stating that the Tigers were observing it more in breach than in practice.

Under watch list

At the moment, the LTTE is either a banned outfit or under the watch list in 32 countries across the globe including India, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union .

It is immediately not clear what are the implications of a formal ban on the LTTE by the government at this juncture when the latter is engaged in a full-fledged war against the Tigers.

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