|
Searchlight
on Trin co
as Batti simmers
A
civilian contemplates her future in Batticaloa and
An armed LTTE cadre at the entrance to Kilinochchi town |
Story
and pictures By
Amantha Perera
"It
is the hunting season over here," was how Batticaloa was
described last week by sources with intimate knowledge of what was
going on in the eastern town. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)
however was busy elsewhere, getting ready to trek through jungles
off the Trincomalee bay.
Last
week the SLMM said that it was checking on the alleged LTTE build-up
and new Tiger camps around the Trincomalee harbour.
Deputy
Head, SLMM, Hagrup
Haukland said that the SLMM was briefed on the issues by government
officials. Haukland told The Sunday Leader that the government had
made a complaint to the SLMM that 13 camps located on the southern
shore of the harbour were new and set up after the ceasefire
agreement. "Those are more or less the allegations," he
said.
Double
games
However,
while one part of the government was urging the SLMM to investigate
the LTTE build-up another arm was downplaying it. Cabinet
spokesperson Mangala Samaraweera last week said that despite several
media reports about the build-up and the new camps, the government
was awaiting an official response from the SLMM. "Now we have
to see whether they are really there," he told the press.
The
security situation and control of the area around the Trincomalee
harbour has an interesting history, especially the southern bay
area. The area was dominated by the security forces in the early
1990s. Upparu, where an LTTE camp is now located, was previously an
army camp situated in a school. In 1992, troops from the camp
launched an operation towards the west and captured Kandalkadu,
where a camp run by
loyalists of former LTTE second in command, Mahattaya was located.
The camp was more a massive farm with goats, cattle and even two
ponies. Troops not only captured the area but also brought back some
livestock and the two ponies from the LTTE camp.
Camps
removed
By
the end of 1992 the camps were controlled by troops from the
Gemunu Watch. Naval personnel manned some of the camps as well. This
was until the time when the government launched operation Jayasikuru
in 1997. The troop demands for Jayasikuru were such that a string of
camps located on the southern coast of the Trincomalee bay were
removed. They include Sampur, Illankantai and Upparu. It was with
this pull out that the LTTE moved into the area. The LTTE had been
moving about in the environs of the jungles located just below the
shore area and once the troops were removed, began to occupy the
camps. By the time the MOU was signed between the government and the
LTTE, troops had pulled back to Mahindapura. Security forces sources
said that Sampur, Gangai, Kadalkadu, Koonativu and Illankantai were
uncleared areas or at least areas where there was no army presence
when the MOU was signed. This claim however now is disputed, with
the government claiming that the LTTE had set up new camps in their
territory. The military spokesman's office was not available for
comment on the troop pull-out.
Even
the area around the disputed Manirasakulam camp has been included in
the lot with troops
having pulled out.
The
last army camp on the southern side of the bay is located at
Kattaparichchan on the southeastern side. The LTTE gradually
strengthened the camps that fell into their lap with Jayasikuru and
during the ceasefire strengthened them as is the case all over the
north and east. However, security forces sources say that the
build-up on the southern bay has been going on for a while. At
Sampur, the LTTE has its police station, a court complex and other
offices just as in Kokkadicholai
in Batticaloa. The security concern is the Trincomalee harbour. From
most of these camps, especially the ones that hug the coast, the
town, the harbour and the environs can be clearly observed. From a
position like Upparu almost the entire harbour, the entrance and
surrounding areas are visible.
At
Ilankantai, there is a small bay where medium size boats could be
easily navigated right into the bay. The Tigers have used mortars
and artillery from the southern side of the bay. "They can
easily bring in 80mm or 120mm artillery pieces," military
forces sources said.
SLMM
difficulties
The
difficulty for the SLMM would be to prove whether these camps have
been set up recently, as argued by the government, or existing ones
as claimed by the Tigers. As Haukland pointed out, some would be
difficult to get into because, "they are located deep inside
the jungles." The
SLMM last week was not clear how long it would take to carry out the
verification. "It is difficult, but not impossible,"
Haukland said.
In
the meantime, the LTTE has upped its influence in Trincomalee. The
organisation has distributed cards among traders and shopkeepers in
the city for taxation purposes and cadres dressed as civilians are
carrying out reconnaissance operations in the area, according to
security forces personnel.
LTTE
cadres were also reportedly conducting lectures in the interior
areas. These areas, although officially demarcated as government
controlled territory, hardly have any security forces personnel
stationed in them.
There
were also reports that some civilians had left the Verugal area,
possibly due to fear that they would be targeted by the LTTE as
Karuna supporters.There are reports that armed LTTE cadres have
moved into the Verugal area, on the look out for supporters of
Karuna.
The
killings that had been limited to Batticaloa reached Trincomalee as
well. An EPDP member was
shot and killed in the heart of Trincomalee town on the night of
August 10. The killing follows the pattern where EPDP members have
been killed in Batticaloa. Just two weeks ago, the EPDP office at
Valchchennai was attacked and a member named Maran was murdered.
The
EPDP on Thursday took the body of the slain member to the SLMM
office in Trincomalee. Earlier in July, they took the body of
Velunadan Ravindran alias Kamalan who was shot dead in Akkaraipaththu
to the Norwegain Embassy in Colombo.
Ice-breaker
However
all was not dark and grey
in the east. There were some positive signs in Ampara where the LTTE
attended a meeting with STF and police for the first time in eight
months. The meeting requested
by the LTTE, was held
at Akkaraipattu on Wednesday at 10 a.m. and went on till 2 p.m. SLMM
officials from Batticaloa and Ampara took part in the meeting.
"It was very cordial," SLMM Ampara Head, Timo Rostas told
The Sunday Leader.
He
said that the discussion centered on practical issues. One of the
main topics was LTTE cadres travelling through government controlled
areas. The Tigers agreed to follow the procedure that is laid down
in the ceasefire agreement, but wanted an assurance that cadres with
proper identification should not be subjected to undue checking and
that female cadres should not be checked by male security forces
personnel.
"It
was more like an ice breaker," Rostas said adding that
sensitive issues like child recruitment and murders were not
discussed. However others present at the meeting said that the
police did in fact deal on the twin issues. "But that was not a
dialogue," they said.
The
LTTE representative S. Kuyilinpan had at one point said that the
organisation was aware that the internal split had resulted in
violence.
There
was hope in Batticaloa that this meeting further south would be an
icebreaker in the troubled eastern region. SLMM monitors have been
meeting with the LTTE's Eastern Political Wing Leader, Kaushalyan
almost weekly but have been unable to gain any relenting of the
tough stance adopted by the Wanni command following the Karuna
defection. Monitors have indicated to the army that they were not
optimistic that the LTTE would change their position anytime soon in
Batticaloa. "They think that Tigers would use Batticaloa as a
playing card," army sources said.
The
monitors however will be continuing with the weekly meetings with
Kaushalyan. Given the circumstances, that itself is news to cheer
about.
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Manirasakulam
still stands
By
Dharisha Bastians
It
has been just over a year since the controversy first erupted
over the LTTE's Manirasakulam camp in Trincomalee. For several
months following its discovery, Manirasakulam became the focal
point of the peace process, resulting in the flaring up of
nationalist elements in the south of the island, the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission (SLMM) coming under heavy fire for
'inaction' in the face of a blatant violation of the ceasefire
agreement by the LTTE and culminated in the Head of State and
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Chandrika
Kumaratunga wresting control of the Ministry of Defence from
the then ruling United National Front government on grounds of
a threat to national security in November last year. Twelve
months after the SLMM issued a deadline for dismantling the
camp however, Manirasakulam continues to stand.
It
had faded from the defence landscape temporarily however, what
with parliamentary polls and a split between the LTTE's
northern command and former Eastern Commander, Karuna Amman in
February. But recent media reports have brought Manirasakulam
back into the spotlight - and this time around, armed forces
personnel claim the Tigers have the Trincomalee harbour mouth
ringed, from Manirasakulam to Foul Point -a build up that
could seriously hinder naval operations and supply lines in
the event war breaks out.
Contradictions
The
LTTE's Manirasakulam camp, residents in the area say, did not
exist prior to the ceasefire agreement which came into effect
in February 2002. It is situated west of Muttur, in an area
the SLMM has ruled is 600 metres inside government controlled
territory. The LTTE for its part
maintains that Manirasakulam had been in existence for
a while, although cadres had moved in after an absence,
leading to security forces personnel spotting rebel activity
inside the area in mid 2003.
Manirasakulam
and the several other camps in the area have been set up in a
stretch of land which was previously occupied by security
forces personnel. These points were abandoned during the
Jayasikuru Operation of 1997 however, when troops were pulled
out from the area to reinforce the offensive lines along the
A-9 highway.
When
the Manirasakulam fiasco first came to light, theories about
its military significance were many. Analysts argued that if
artillery points had been set up at the camp it would
effectively trap naval vessels inside the harbour and hinder
air force operations at China Bay. Armed forces personnel
voiced concern at the time that the LTTE had gained
significant ground following the ceasefire where they had been
militarily weak previously.
The
Kadi factor
Foreign
Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, who was then special adviser to
the President on foreign policy, was one of the more
vociferous critics of the LTTE's build up in Trincomalee. Well
known and loved by the southern populace for his lack of
sympathy for the Tigers, Kadirgamar, on a trip to India last
August warned Delhi that the situation in Trincomalee was
threatening India's own security interests in the Indian
Ocean. "I am seeking to sensitise India to the looming
danger particularly to the port of Trincomalee. The port of
Trincomalee is today ringed by the LTTE," Kadirgamar was
quoted as saying in an interview with The Hindu newspaper. In
the interview, the Minister warned that the Tigers had put up
11 bases around the Trincomalee harbour after the ceasefire
agreement had come into effect and said the Trincomalee oil
tanks that were leased to India were vulnerable as a result.
Apart
from keeping the international community appraised of the LTTE
build up, Kadirgamar also began to hold exclusive briefings
for selected journalists from the private media to give them
the picture about the security situation in the east.
President Kumaratunga also appeared to be gravely concerned
about Manirasakulam and its military implications and fired a
letter to former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on August
21 last year, demanding that he take immediate steps to
dismantle the camp.
"You
will understand that the non-withdrawal of this camp creates
the most abominable precedent to encourage the LTTE, (in
addition to a large number of incidents) to continue with
their high handed activities with impunity,"
Kumaratunga's letter said.
Ground
situation
Quite
apart from the wide-ranging political and military
implications of the Manirasakulam camp there was also the all
important situation on the ground - the consequences for the
200 Muslim families living in the area. Following the erection
of the LTTE's camp, these families were forced to relocate to
villages nearby. The camp is a particularly sore spot for
Muslim residents because it has been built on the ruins of a
mosque that was destroyed during the conflict almost a decade
ago, according to Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader, Rauf
Hakeem. These residents therefore also lent their voices to
the myriad appeals from other parts of the country for the
removal of the Manirasakulam camp, to allow them to resettle
in the area and commence the reconstruction of their mosque.
Speaking
to The Sunday Leader, Hakeem said that Muslims in the area
were still agitating for the removal of the camp. "Yes,
the people in the are most certainly still affected by the
presence of this camp since the Muslims own land in the area
and the camp is also within the perimeters of a mosque,"
Hakeem said, adding that the civilians vow that no such camp
existed previously - a claim the SLMM findings have
corroborated. The SLMC Leader said that the SLMM has a duty to
report on violations of the ceasefire agreement and take
necessary action, something that has not happened so far.
"We continue to appeal to the LTTE not to put the lives
of innocent civilians on the line in the event of war breaking
out and urge both sides to desist from hostilities that would
endanger people living in the area," Hakeem said.
Compromise
Whatever
conflict of opinion about Manirasakulam there may be between
Colombo, Kilinochchi and the SLMM, the situation on the
ground, as always, differs considerably. With the LTTE
refusing to budge on the issue of removing the camp, civilians
owning lands and fields in the area have struck a compromise
with the Tigers. As a result of the unwritten agreement, the
LTTE allows farmers to cross over into the area of the camp
every morning, permits them to engage in paddy cultivation
during the day and ensures that the fields are protected at
night.
"We
encourage this kind of informal agreement, because it is these
civil society arrangements that eventually keep the lines of
communication open for formal talks on the issue," Hakeem
said. He added that the initiative of the people would enable
the formalisation of such an arrangement in the event that
peace talks between the government and the LTTE resume.
While
the issue of Manirasakulam is far from being resolved, it has
most certainly lost steam, both in the media and among other
sections that voiced opposition to the LTTE's lack of regard
for terms of the ceasefire agreement. And despite the
LTTE's control of the Trincomalee harbour mouth coming back
into focus with news of another build up in the area, even
with a different government in power, it seems unrealistic to
envision a different conclusion to the controversy this time
around.
*
* *
The
hunting season
The
spate of killings in Batticaloa continued unabated last week
as well. On Tuesday and Wednesday early morning
two Karuna supporters were shot and killed at Kiran (Karuna's
home town) and Kalawanchikudy, close to Ampara. The
Kalawanchikudy killing was carried out by the pistol gang
while Sivrajah Sivaseelan was shot while he was riding a motor
bike in Kiran. The pro-LTTE Tamilnet said that he was a close
associate of Karuna
and that Senithamby Yogarajan who was killed in Kalawanchikudy
had been an informant for the Karuna group.
The
day before, the army said that a Muslim was shot and killed at
Omadiyamadu in the uncleared areas. The army identified the
dead man as Thimaya Sivarasa of Vakarei and said
"unidentified gunmen, suspected to be from LTTE, had
fired several shots at their moving three wheeler for reasons
best known only to those assailants, according to the
information."
The
army also took into custody two LTTE cadres at
Maweduwembu. They were riding a motorcycle and soldiers
discovered a T56 rifle and magazines. The two had later told
the soldiers that they were from the north and had come to
government controlled areas from Kokkadicholai to get food.
Tiruparatnam Wimalendran, a Karuna supporter was killed in
Maweduwembu two weeks ago.
The
most gruesome killing however was left for Friday morning.
Residents in Kiran woke up to the macabre news of two men aged
between 20 to 30 blindfolded, manacled and shot in public on
Thursday night inside the town. The men appeared to have been
severely beaten, according to military sources. The manacles
were welded together and the bodies were also bound with
chains. Military sources said that they believe that the two
Karuna supporters were brought in from LTTE controlled areas
and shot.
By
Friday, the SLMM, army and the police in Batticaloa were
reduced to the task of collecting bodies, while security
higher-ups haggled and cajoled everyone over Trincomalee and
Karuna kept reiterating that he would reclaim the east.
The
LTTE has systematically eliminated Karuna supporters and
members of the EPDP in Batticaloa where Karuna indicated that
he had some operations going. Since the last LTTE Political
Head in Batticaloa, Ramalingam Padmaseelan alias Lt. Col.
Senathiraja, was shot on July 5, the LTTE has focused its wrath on Karuna
supporters and the EPDP.
The
government has continued to condemn the killings but has not
complained or raised the issue with the Tigers in any way
similar to what it has adopted with Trincomalee. Cabinet
spokesperson Mangala Samaraweera said last week that the
killings in the east were a violation of the ceasefire
agreement and would put pressure on the ceasefire as well.
Karuna for his part last week told a website that his
supporters would dislodge the Wanni group from the east and
that would be the settling point to the eastern storm. Going
by the ground reality, for the time being it will remain
merely a sentiment flashing on a computer screen.
*
* *
For
the record...
Last
week's issue has quoted that the SLMM had received 22, 36, and
25 complaints on LTTE child recruitment in Batticaloa for the
months of May, June and July. The correct figures however are
1, 11 and 6 respectively.
The
LTTE last week handed over the 24 children released at
Kokkadicholai direct to the parents and not to UNICEF, as
indicated in the story.
The
SLMM last week commenced patrolling temple festivals in
Batticaloa to keep watch over possible child recruitment.
Monitors have received complaints that children were being
recruited at these festivals and last week said that the 24
released were possibly recruited under such circumstances.
However, the chances of such patrolling carried out by the
SLMM and other organisations having any viable effect is at a
minimum.
Several
attempts were made to contact Navy Commander Vice Admiral Daya
Sandagiri, however they proved futile. He was busy at
meetings, according to his staff. |
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