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Tamil Tiger rebels blow up boat, killing themselves, after caught smuggling anti-aircraft gun
Associated Press,
Fri February 7, 2003 03:16 EST .
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Three Tamil Tiger rebels blew up their boat, killing themselves, after they were found trying to smuggle an anti-aircraft gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition into Sri Lanka - on Friday, defense officials said. Two European peace monitors who had boarded the boat to inspect it were safe. They left the vessel before the rebels blew up the vessel.The monitors had earlier said the find was a ``clear violation'' of a cease-fire agreement the two sides signed last February.The discovery and explosion came only hours before a fifth round of peace talks were to start in Berlin, Germany. A Sri Lankan defense ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said all three rebels were believed killed.
Published: Fri Feb 7 04:20:14 EST 2003
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ASK DR. SWAMY!
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Dr. Subramanian Swamy
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ANSWERS 1-24 NOW AVAILABLE
[HERE]
The Lanka Academic is delighted to announce its next guest in its
series of Q & A sessions: Dr. Subramanian Swamy, President,
Janata Party, India. We are indeed gratified by his appearence at The
Lanka Academic to answer questions from our readers.
We hope our readers would avail themselves of this opportunity to
educate themselves on the Indian perspective on the on-going peace
process and the other developments in all spheres of politics
with respect to India and Sri Lanka.
Submit your questions for Dr. Swamy and view his answers here. As usual, we will forward your questions to him
in batches and will post the answers as they arrive.
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Tigers using a truce to smuggle weapons: Sri Lanka president
ProLog,
COLOMBO, Feb 7 (AFP) .
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers are using a truce to smuggle in weapons, President Chandrika Kumaratunga said Friday after three rebels blasted themselves to pieces to avoid capture by the navy. Kumaratunga in stern letters to Defence Minister Tilak Marapone and navy chief Daya Sandagiri ordered more thorough checks to prevent gun running by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
More...
Published: Fri Feb 7 10:35:34 EST 2003
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"Why doesn't Norway say a word about LTTE bringing arms to Sri Lanka"? -JVP
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo,
SLT 9.20 p.m Friday 7 February.
JVP Parliamentarian Vimal Weerawansa said today that the Norwegians have
proved to the country their real intentions with the latest incident
involving the LTTE arms ship. Weerawansa questioned why the Norwegian
government issued a statement only on the so called break down of
communications between the LTTE cadres instead of condemning LTTE's attempt
to bring in arms to the country despite the ceasefire agreement. Weerawansa
told the Lanka Academic " It is clear to us that the Norwegians are
supportive of the LTTE. Why don't they say a word about the LTTE bringing in
weapons to the country? Sri Lankan defence minister Marapona too have
betrayed the security of the country by not allowing the Sri Lankan Navy to
take clear action despite the warnings by the Indian Navy." Weerawansa
charged that there were number of other trawlers, which managed to unload
arms and escape. A statement issued by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry
stated, " On 7 February an incident on Sea Tiger vessel near the Delft
Islands resulted in the tragic loss of three lives. The situation leading up
to the incident had been discussed between the government of Sri Lanka and
the LTTE on 6 February. On the evening of the same day, the parties agreed
on a procedure to resolve the matter by asking the Sri Lanka Monitoring
Mission to conduct an inspection of the vessels involved to clarify the
situation. Due to an apparent communication failure between the LTTE naval
commander and the cadres on board one vessel, the crewmembers were not
informed on the agreed procedure, and the cadres set fire to the vessel and
took their own lives. In cooperation with the SLMM, the parties will review
existing procedures in order to avoid similar incidents in the future."
According to intelligence sources this is the 7th arms ship, which had been
brought to the island by the LTTE after the ceasefire agreement between the
government and the LTTE though the security forces failed to take in to
custody any of those ships. Former foreign minister Lakshman Kadiragamar has
repeatedly warned that the LTTE is piling up arms and increasing the
strength of their cadres.
Published: Fri Feb 7 10:26:11 EST 2003
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