COLOMBO, May 6: A Japanese peace envoy arrived in Sri Lanka Saturday for talks aimed at saving the island’s troubled peace process as Scandinavian truce monitors said violence was getting out of control.
Tokyo’s special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi was to hold talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse and would also meet leaders of the Tamil Tigers during his four-day visit, diplomats said.
The Tiger rebels confirmed that the leader of their political wing, S.P. Thamilselvan, would hold discussions with Akashi on Tuesday in the rebel-held northern town of Kilinochchi.
Despite a four-year ceasefire, more than 200 people have died over the last month in tit-for-tat attacks by government and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are fighting for a homeland for minority Tamils.
“The escalation of violence that’s occurring now is completely out of control,” Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission that oversees a four-year-old truce, said.
“There’s anarchy on the ground.”
However, Saturday saw a rare lull in the attacks.
The only casualty was a soldier wounded when suspected Tamil Tiger gunmen opened fire as he guarded a Tamil newspaper office, the defence ministry said.
The pro-rebel newspaper had been provided with armed guards after unidentified gunmen killed two employees four days earlier.
On Friday, government forces attacked several rebel boats off the island’s northwest, destroying one vessel and a truck transporting reinforcements.
The navy had hit back and sunk the rebel boat after sustaining damage to a naval vessel from Tamil Tiger fire, said defence ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe. No casualties were reported among the sailors.
The fighting occurred after the navy had confronted at least four rebel boats off Kuthirimalai Point in the coastal district of Mannar, the military said.—AFP
