washington times,  Wed Oct 18 15:03:44 EDT 2006

    Any hope that the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam would respond to diplomatic pressure and renounce their terrorist tactics ahead of the cease-fire negotiations scheduled for the end of the month was murderously subverted by a suicide attack that killed more than 100 Sri Lankan sailors this week. Although the government is poised to enter peace talks backed by political consensus for the first time, its willingness to negotiate the end of violence in Sri Lanka is being undermined by the rebel group's continuing violence. The talks are still scheduled, but will only provide salvation for the war-torn South Asian nation if the Tamil Tigers can be forced into truly renouncing violence -- an unlikely prospect.
    Legitimate cease-fire talks require the Tamil Tigers to match the government's level of commitment to peace. In the past two decades of peace efforts, however, this hasn't happened. The Tamil Tigers have entered negotiations and cease-fire agreements with a disingenuous promise of peace only to use the break in hostilities to secretly regroup, rearm and relaunch their offensive. The Tamil Tigers are not interested in peaceful coexistence; their only goal is to win substantial territorial concessions, which is a nonstarter for the Sri Lankan government, and justifiably so. The Tigers, furthermore, lack any real support of the Tamil people and intimidate their opposition into silence.
Full Story


_________________
- The Academic