Tamils threaten to use suicide bombers if war erupts

The political chief of the Tamil Tiger rebels today said that his group would use all means necessary – including suicide bombers – if full-scale war erupted in Sri Lanka.

The comments by SP Tamilselvan came amid weeks of increasing violence that he blamed on the Sri Lankan military and other groups opposed to the Tigers, denying the separatist militants had played any role in violence in areas under government control.

He called the 2002 cease-fire that ended nearly 20 years of combat “a dead letter,” adding “It is just a peace of paper that has no meaning at all.”

However, he said that the Tigers were willing to sit down again for peace talks as long as the government allowed the Tigers’ Central Committee – its main decision-making body – to gather safely from a series of scattered guerrilla bases across the island to talk about the situation.

He said the escalating violence was the fault of the government, pro-government political parties and a Tiger faction that has broken away from the main group.

He also warned that full-scale war would be bloody.

“If war is let loose by the government on the Tamil people … We definitely will make use of all the weapons in our arsenal – not only weapons, but manpower.”

Asked if that would include suicide bombers, he said: “In facing war … of course we will use all our resources.”

Soon after signing a Norwegian-brokered 2002 cease-fire that halted the country’s two decades of civil war, the rebels and the government held six rounds of peace talks, but they broke down over rebel demands for sweeping autonomy.

The rebels have been fighting for more than two decades to create a homeland for the country’s 3.2 million predominantly Hindu Tamils, a minority that has faced decades of discrimination by the largely Buddhist Sinhalese majority.

The civil war killed more than 65,000 people before the 2002 cease-fire, and talks to build on the truce have faltered as sporadic shootings and bombings have grown increasingly frequent.