Sri Lanka confident tsunami will help peace efforts

Sri Lanka is confident that co-operation with Tamil Tigers in tsunami relief efforts will strengthen attempts to end the country’s two-decade civil war, officials said today. But European peace monitors reported continued tension between the parties.

Jayantha Dhanapala, head of the government’s peace body, said contact with the rebels since the December 26 disaster, “has created a better atmosphere for co-ordinating tsunami relief and rehabilitation”.

“This could be a basis for future peace negotiations to resume,” Dhanapala said. “Common adversity has certainly reduced the prospect of conflict resuming.”

Before the tsunami, Sri Lanka appeared to be drifting back to war, as the 2002 cease-fire came under threat and hopes faded of reviving stalled peace talks.

The tsunami brought an equal measure of tragedy to the Tamils of the north and the Sinhalese of the south, killing nearly 31,000 people.

Despite the government’s optimism, Helen Olafsdottir – a spokeswoman for European peace monitors – said that on the ground “there is friction”.

The government and rebels had both expressed displeasure over each other’s presence in refugee camps, Olafsdottir said after a two-day tour headed by truce chief Trond Furuhovde to tsunami-affected areas. They also held talks with government security forces and rebel leaders in eastern Trincomalee.

The government posted security forces to relief camps to ensure that supplies were reaching the needy and not being diverted. Angry rebels alleged the move was aimed at hijacking relief supplies.

“We need to find a solution soon. The friction can undermine the cease-fire,” Olafsdottir said.

The Tigers have fought since 1983 to carve out a homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who claim discrimination at the hands of the Sinhalese-dominated government.

Norwegian-brokered peace talks collapsed in April 2003, amid rebel demands for wide autonomy in the Tamil-dominated north and east.