Rathnapura town flooded

town was flooded this afternoon since the water levels went up in a number of rivers including Kalu Ganga, We Ganga, Kuru Ganga, Denawak Ganga and Hangamu Ganga.

Number of areas in Rathnapura, Kuruwita, Kiriella, Pelmadulla, Kahawaththa, Niwithigala, Kalawana, Ayagama and Elapatha divisional secretary areas are under water now.

Rathnapura District Secretary Ms. Malani Premarathna said that several areas of the district would be at risk of landslides if rain continued for six more hours.

Residents of the area said that low-lying areas were going under water since a large 'mara' tree that was on the riverbank of Kalu Ganga uprooted and blocked the river near the bridge at Malwala junction on Rathnapura - Wewelwaththa road.

Several places in Rathnapura town including the area in front of the police station were flooded by the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the schools were closed by 12 noon and the town was jammed with traffic.

9 kgs. of high powered explosives detected in Dehiwela

9 kg of explosives near the railway track at the two different locations in the Dehiwela coastal area last morning, police spokesman Senior DIG Jayantha Wickramaratne said. The detection followed a tip off by a civilian.

According to DIG Wickramaratne, 7 kg of C4 explosives which were concealed in 14 small packets were uncovered by the Dehiwela police around 9.40 am. “The C4 explosives were found on a grassy patch by the railway line near Frazier Avenue in Dehiwela”, he added.

A mobile phone was also found on the spot along with the explosive packets.

Following a subsequent search operation, the Dehiwela police recovered a further 2kg of C4 explosives hidden in a thicket around 100 metres away from the coastal area in Dehiwela. “The high powered explosives were packed in four boxes each weighing 500 g. The police recovered a total of 18 boxes with 500 g C4 explosives in each box,” the DIG said.

Is there a Secret Master Plan?

I've been a bit of a lazy blogger of late, but as others have noted there are only so many musings about Tibet a brain can come up with from a distance of a thousand miles or so.

The government may moderate its policies to the Dalai Lama

I have, however, a new theory about the response to it all in Beijing, and what lies behind the government's decision to talk to the Dalai Lama announced on Friday.

I am sure it is possible to be cynical, and say it's just playing for time: keep the foreign governments happy, ensure they'll come to the Games ceremonies, fob everyone off with a new round of meaningless talks, and in the meantime keep up the patriotic education in Tibet itself in the vain hope that that'll see the situation all right.

There's a good chance - what, 80, 90 per cent? - that that's exactly what will happen.

But I have been thinking some more about nationalism, and the unity of the Chinese people in the face of western attacks on Beijing over Tibet and on the Olympic torch. As I wrote before, this unity of feeling has led some to say that the pro-Tibet protests backfired.

But as I did then, I wonder.

People have compared the current wave of anti-French (and anti-foreign media) activism to the anti-Japanese protests in 2005: in the same way, the government then seemed to encourage, then cool down, the nationalistic sentiments.

But note: in Japan's case this was followed by a warming of ties. This was helped by a new Japanese prime minister, but it was also fed by Beijing, where the politburo went from being very uptight, cancelling visits, to being bosom buddies of Tokyo (well, almost) in a few months.

I have a pop psychology explanation for the political machinations at work here.

The CCP has a long history of hitting with the right before hitting with the left (or vice versa) - it will feint one way, to satisfy one wing of the party, before actually enacting policies that lean the other way.

You might have thought this would be dangerous when it came to nationalism - what if the nationalist feelings get out of hand, and prevent you putting your moderation of policy into action? But this is not a democracy: the government knows the extent to which it can control, rather than be controlled by, popular opinion.

More to the point, the Party knows that the danger of feinting to the right before tilting to the left is that it emphasises division: and the truly dangerous periods in recent history (perhaps not-so-recent too) have come when the government and people have been divided among themselves - 1989, the start of the Cultural Revolution, etc.

To my mind, the sudden outburst of nationalism as regards Japan was not particularly dictated by outside events, but was a reflection of the Party wanting to engender a sense of national unity among the people before it led out a new policy. No matter that the new policy seemed to contradict the spirit of the people, the point was that once they had this feeling of solidarity, the people could be sold a new idea by a government behind which they had united.

I do not know if the same thinking is at work here: indeed, the whole idea may be very fanciful. Yet I feel the government is now well set to moderate its policies to the Dalai Lama, and to the Tibetan people more generally, should it choose to do so. It has stirred up some considerable support for itself, as the legitimate embodiment of the Chinese people, along with a sense of "something must be done". Controversially, I would say it has also provoked (and perhaps even this might be a little bit deliberate, at least among some of the more reform-minded people) a genuine sense among many thinking people that beneath the rhetoric previous policies must be admitted to have failed, and that there is more to the Tibet situation than previously met the eye.

The Party is now in a position where it can, if it chooses, move to offer genuine compromise while appearing to be magnanimous.

All very speculative, I know. But I also have another precedent: a few years ago I talked to nationalist-minded young Chinese, at around the time the "anti-secession law" went into effect, who were demanding that the PLA invade Taiwan before the Olympics, and sod the cost. Taiwan was another area where, it was said, the government was hamstrung by popular nationalist opinion.

But then there was a deliberate toning down of Beijing's rhetoric towards Taipei, and now the government seems to have put off the idea of reunification altogether for the indefinite future, with just the fig-leaf compensation of a KMT president in Taiwan. Is there a wink of trouble from the angry youth? There is not.

OVER-CONFIDENT SL ARMY AGAIN WALKS INTO A DEADLY LTTE TRAP

By B.Raman

For the second time in less than two years, an over-confident Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has walked into a deadly trap laid by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Muhamalai area near Jaffna in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka on April 23 ,2008, and faced a rout. It not only lost over 150 soldiers, who were killed by the LTTE, but also enabled the LTTE to seize a large quantity of arms and ammunition from the battle scene. The LTTE has not had such a bonanza of recovered arms and ammunition since the earlier SLA rout in the same area on October 11, 2006. My assessment of the earlier rout may be seen in my article titled "SRI LANKA: A HEAVY PRICE FOR OVER-CONFIDENCE" available at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers20/paper1989.html.

2. After the rout of October 11,2006, the SLA, as is its wont, had played down the fatalities suffered by it and played up the fatalities which it claimed to have inflicted on the LTTE. Only after the LTTE disseminated details of the fatalities inflicted by it on the SLA, did the latter admit that 139 soldiers were killed by the LTTE. A few weeks later, Lt.Gen.Sarath Fonseka, the chief of the SLA, had gone to the US, inter alia, for a medical check-up in connection with the injuries suffered by him in an unsuccessful attempt by the LTTE to kill him through a woman suicide bomber. Reliable sources reported at that time that during his interactions with American military officers in Washington DC he admitted that the SLA had suffered nearly 400 fatalities on October 11,2006. He allegedly blamed Mr. Gothbaya Rajapaksa, the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the Defence Secretary, for hastily pushing the Army into a battle when it was not yet ready----that too in a terrain which the LTTE knew better than the SLA.

3.After the battle of April 23,2008,the SLA claimed that it suffered 43 fatalities with 33 more soldiers missing in action, but the correspondent of the CNN TV channel and the Agence France Press (AFP) have reported that the fatalities suffered by the SLA were more than 100. Reliable Sri Lankan Police sources estimate the SLA fatalities at about 150. The SLA has claimed to have killed over 100 LTTE soldiers, but the LTTE has admitted only 16 fatalities. In an analysis of the casualty figures, the AFP has pointed out that in the beginning of this year, the SLA had given the total strength of the LTTE as about 3000, but the total number of fatalities which the SLA has claimed to have inflicted on the LTTE since January 1,2008, is 3105, when one adds up all the figures given in the SLA's statements.

4. Since the beginning of this year, the SLA and the Defence Ministry have embarked on a campaign of disinformation regarding the ground situation in the Northern Province. As part of this disinformation campaign, not a day has passed without their reporting some operation or the other resulting in large fatalities inflicted on the LTTE. The purpose of this campaign was to buttress the morale of the soldiers of the SLA and the Sinhalese people, to give themselves in public perception an aura of legendary military prowess and weaken the morale of the LTTE and its Sri Lankan Tamil supporters. According to some critics of the Government, many of the so-called battles reported as part of this disinformation campaign allegedly existed only in the figment of the SLA's imagination.

5. Many tall claims were made as part of this disinformation campaign such as:pin-point intelligence has started flowing from human sources in the Northern Province; many precision air strikes had been made on the LTTE's political and operational nerve-centres with the help of such pin-point information; the LTTE's Navy had been practically wiped out; the LTTE's hold in the North was weakening and the SLA would be able to rout it and re-establish its control over the North before the end of this year.

6. One of the basic principles of counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism is that you don't indulge in disinformation in your own territory and directed at your own people. It could prove counter-productive and dangerous by creating a sense of over-confidence in your own troops and people. When the troops realise that they had been sent into battles on the basis of false information and assessments, the credibility of the political and military leadership in the eyes of the people and the soldiers would suffer. The LTTE and its Sri Lankan Tamil supporters know well the ground situation in their territory. They will not be deceived by such a disinformation campaign. It is the Sinhalese public and the soldiers, who will be deceived by it.

7.This is what happened in October,2006, and this is what has happened now. The LTTE did on April 23 ,2008, exactly what it did on October 11,2006. After fighting for some time in the face of an SLA offensive, it pretended to withdraw and vacate a small part of the territory under its control. Thinking in their euphoria that they have defeated the LTTE and forced its retreat, the SLA soldiers rushed into the area vacated by the LTTE and found themselves surrounded by it on all sides. It mowed down the soldiers before they could recover from their surprise.

8. The rout inflicted by the LTTE on the SLA would serve as a morale-booster for its leaders and cadres. It shows that its capability for conventional-style battles is intact and strong in the Northern Province, where the leadership remains united. It had weakened in the Eastern Province following the desertion in March,2004, of Karuna, a capable officer of the LTTE, who looked after its conventional style operations. It was this weakening, which had enabled the SLA to wrest control of the Eastern Province with the help of the Eastern Tamil deserters from the LTTE's army.

9.Over-all, despite the success on April 23,2008, the LTTE's position is still weak for want of an air cover and due to depletion in its arms and ammunition holdings. The battle of April 23 has replenished its holdings to some extent, but not adequately enough. The dilution of the support and sympathy of the international community has been another handicap. However, the motivation and the determination of its cadres are still strong. Any expectations of an easy walk-over in the North nursed by the SLA are likely to be belied unless its air strikes succeed in eliminating Prabakaran, the leader of the LTTE.

10. While continuing with their confrontations on the ground, the Sri Lankan Air Force is trying frantically to eliminate Prabakran through an air strike and the LTTE is trying frantically to destroy the SLAF aircraft on the ground. Neither has succeeded so far. Whoever succeeds first is likely to turn the tide of the war in his favour.

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com author's name are acknowledged. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes.

Six UNPers abducted by a masked gang

United National Party (UNP) says that unidentified masked persons in the Eastern Province often intimidate civilians. UNP said that such incidents were reported from Akkaraipaththu last week and Padiththanei, Trincomalee today (28).

A Lanka-e-News investigation revealed that a gang of masked individuals abducted six persons from Padiththanai village. The relatives of the victims have not lodged complaints in police since they identified the gang that was involved in the abduction. It is learnt that the two parties are in an attempt to resolve the issue among themselves.

Reportedly, the abduction victims are UNP supporters.

Media Committee Chief Lakshman Kiriella issuing a statement on the Eastern Provincial Council election says that the TMVP (Pillaiyan Group), PLOTE, EPDP and EPRLF are often engaged in election campaigning with arms they carry with indirect support of state security forces and police. He said that this was one factors that a fair election could not be expected in the Eastern Province.

Ten thousand polling cards in the possession of a woman

Mr. Kiriella said that Pillaiyan Group was misusing power by engaging in state security affairs while contesting the election as a political party. He said that the armed TMVP cadres manned all the Army checkpoints in Kalmunai, Batticaloa and Trincomalee areas. UNP pointed out that this violated the Article 12 of the constitution that guarantees equality of all citizens before law. UNP emphasized that this group needed to be removed from state security affairs immediately.

Pointing to the indistinct statistics of tsunami affected, Mr. Kiriella said that it would make way for vote rigging unless the figures of the displaced persons and the procedure made for them to verify their identity were not reported to the election authorities.

UNP MP Kiriella said that the Chairman of Akkaraipaththu Pradeshiya Sabha is using Manmunai Al Shamaz school for election campaigning while United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) candidate Hisbulla uses the upstairs of Eravur post office and the Ministers were using almost all the circuit bungalows of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) for election propaganda work.

Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Channel Eye broadcast a report on the election malpractices of the state officials who were using state vehicles for election campaigning. Village Officers were summoned in groups often to be deployed in propaganda work. Polling cards are in the possession of outsiders and on April 23, police took 10,000 such polling cards into custody from the possession of a woman.

Meanwhile, on April 26 around 10.30 PM, a group of about 10 persons entered the residence of the UNP Pradeshiya Sabha MP Abdul Majeed and warned him to keep away from election propaganda.

UNP says that the government was proving that it was not ready to hold a free and fair election since it was providing indirect support to all those violence.

Postal voting begins in east

Postal voting for the east provincial council election is to be held on April 28 and April 29 at government offices in the three districts, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai in the province. 22,412 public servants are eligible to cast their votes in the province, according to election officials.

The breakdown of the postal voters district wise: Trincomalee-8,577; Batticaloa- 4,427; Ampaa'rai-9,468.

Meanwhile, the postal delivery of polling cards addressed to 982,721 eligible voters in the three districts of east province almost came to an end on Sunday. Specially assigned postal employees worked on Sunday to complete the delivery. However eligible voters could collect their polling cards at their respective post offices if they fail to receive their poling cards for various reasons such as change of address, election officials said.

SLA occupation of Madu, triggers fears of renewed Sinhalicisation

The Madu Road junction located on Mannaar-Madawachchi Road, which branches off the main route to Madu shrine, situated in the middle of traditional Tamil area, became the center of a Sinhala settlement in the 1970s. The Sri Lanka Government had the agenda of transforming the area into a full-fledged Sinhala colony, by using the lands of a cashew farm between the Madu Shrine and the junction. However, the settlement was later abandoned, fearing repercussions following large-scale massacre and arson committed by the Sri Lanka Army in December 1984 after a landmine blast. The spectre of a Sinhalicised Madu area has now become a dangerous new reality with SLA's occupation of Madu shrine.

Irrigation settlements aiming demographic shift from densely populated wet zone, largely from the Western province, towards dry-zone areas were initiated under the British rule before the island of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) gained independence in 1948. Although the Irrigation Ordinance was introduced in 1857, paving way for irrigation settlements after the abolition of Rajakariya system (the feudal system of land tenure based on service for King), major irrigation settlement schemes were launched after the 1931 Donoughmore Constitution that gave a measure of self-government to Ceylonese. The Land Development Ordinance of 1935 provided the framework for these schemes.

Irrigation settlements were initiated first in Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee and Ampaa'rai. As Minister of Agriculture and Lands, D.S Senanayake, established "colonization schemes" with the intention of settling Sinhalese in the traditional homeland of Tamil speaking people and intruding into the geographical contiguity of the Tamil homeland of North and East, which then had a coastal stretch reaching up to Colombo on the western coast also.

Madu Road, the location of Sinhala settlement in Madu region

In 1957, irrigation settlements were established in the dry zone Mannaar district. Periyamadu, Periya Pa'ndivirichchaan, Chinnap Pa'ndivirichchaan and Thampanai (Vauniyaa district in Mannaar border) were the first irrigation settlements in the Madu region. Viyaayadikku'lam (1960), Veali Maruthamadukku'lam (1960), Kooraay (1968), Mu'l'likku'lam (1968), Akaththimu'rippu (1976) and Adampanku'lam (1976) followed later.

Chinnap Pa'ndivirichchan is located 2.5 km south of Madu. Periya Pa'ndivirichchaan is situated 3 km east of Madu Shrine. Thampanai, in Vavuniya district, is located 3 km east of Pa'ndivirichchaan. Most of the settlers were from the islets of Jaffna, Vangkaalai, and Parappaangka'ndal. Following the 1958 anti-Tamil pogroms, a group of Tamil refugee families from Mihintale in Anuradhapura district were settled in Chinnap Pa'ndivirichchaan. Most of them who settled in Thampanai, were from Neduntheevu islet in Jaffna.

Each family unit was provided 5 acres of land: 3 acres of paddy cultivation land (low land) that came under the irrigation schemes, and 2 acres (high land) provided for housing and home cultivation.

146 family units were settled in Periya Pa'ndivirichchaan, 55 in Chinnap Pa'ndivirichchaan and 250 in Thampanai, according to the statistics provided by former Colonisation Officers (CO) in Mannaar and Vavuniyaa.

Except four Sinhala families in Periya Pa'ndivirichchaan, the settlers were Tamils. However, few Sinhala families engaged in small businesses such as running tea shops, bakeries, garages and some railway employees began to settle near the Madu Road Junction and near the Murunkan bazaar in early 1960s. A Sinhala primary school was established in Madu Road Junction. Later, the school was upgraded as Maha Vidyalaya. A Buddhist temple was also built close to the school. The Madu Road Junction, with a railway station, would become a busy area during the festival period of the Madu Shrine with a temporary police station, health services, water supplies and many petty shops.

In 1970s, a cashew plantation comprising 40 acres between Chinna Pa'ndivirichchaan and Madu Road Junction along the main road leading to Madu Shrine from Madu Junction, was established under the Sri Lankan state-owned Cashew Plantation Coorporation. More Sinhala families were brought to the farm to do plantation work.

The hidden motive behind the Madu Road Junction establishment was Sinhalicisation. Madu Road Junction slowly evolved into a Sinhala-Budhist symbol. Today, under Sri Lanka Army occupation, the Buddhist temple has been renovated into a large Vihara.

It is noteworthy to mention here that it was not far from the cashew plantation located at the 6th Mile Post, from Madu Road to Madu, the Tigers also had a hide-out for operations in the 1970s, further deep into the jungle at a place called Ka'n'naaddi. It was here that Inspector Bastiampillai, the notorious Sri Lankan Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officer, was counter-ambushed by the Tamil Tigers in 1978.

Following the anti-Tamil pogrom in 1983, Tamil militancy surfaced in all the districts of NorthEast. Mannaar faced the first brunts of large-scale massacres and arsons by the Sri Lanka Army as responses to militancy. Mannaar city was burnt by them on August 11, 1984, following a landmine attack on SLA soldiers at Iluppaikkadavai.

On 04 December 1984, a Sri Lanka Army truck, which was on its way to Tha'l'laadi camp, was targeted by a landmine. The vehicle narrowly escaped from the attack and the SLA launched mortar attack from Tha'l'laadi camp towards the civilian settlements, and the SLA soldiers went on a rampage, opened fire at several locations from Mannaar to Isaimaalaith-thaazhvu, massacring more than 200 Tamil civilians. SLA troopers stopped a bus from Vavuniyaa between Madu Road Junction and Isaimaalaith-thaazhvu, ordered the passengers to get off the bus, and opened fire on them.

Employees at Murungkan post office were ordered to queue outside and shot to death by the SLA. Following the episode, Sinhalese settlers, except those from Ko'ndaachchi cashew farm in Musali division, fearing repercussions moved out of entire Mannaar district. The Sinhala school and the Buddhist Vihara were destroyed by the local people. The Madu cashew farm was abandoned. Since then, there were no attempts to bring Sinhala settlers into Mannaar district.

The geographical contiguity of Tamil Catholics along the western coast of Sri Lanka from Mannaar to Colombo has been already Sinhalacised in the Chilaapam (Chilaw) - Colombo sector through carefully planned social engineering. The contiguity of Tamil speaking Muslims also fragmented in the same way along the western coast. This was very similar to de-linking the contiguity of the Northern and Eastern provinces along the eastern coast.

By the occupation of Madu Shrine, the symbol of Tamil Catholicism in Sri Lanka, what is feared now is possible Sinhalicisation and ethnic cleansing in the Madu region. The fears are based on several precedences in the North and East as such of the case of the Ma'nalaa'ru region.

Madu is already a declared forest sanctuary. There could be no technical problem in declaring it a peace zone. But, the government of Sri Lanka is not prepared to do it as it has other intentions. The arrogance of the government and the army commander in responding to the peace zone calls has to be understood in the context of the antecedents of several decades.

Madu Road, the location of Sinhala settlement in Madu region

A powerful bomb found at Galgamuwa bus station

A powerful bomb was found and defused at a crowded bus station in Galgamuwa today (28) morning, minutes before the device had been set to go off, police said.

The parcel bomb equipped with a timing device was discovered in Galgamuwa, police said.

"Passengers alerted the police and the bomb was defused just in time," a police official said. "There were ball bearings packed into the bomb and they could have caused a lot of casualties."

China train crash kills 66, injures hundreds(video annex)

Source: Reuters

(Adds dismissals of officials) By Guo Shipeng and Nick Macfie BEIJING, April 28 (Reuters) - Two passenger trains collided in eastern China on Monday, killing at least 66 people and injuring hundreds as carriages jumped the tracks and toppled into a ditch, state media said.


Four hundred people were taken to hospital, with 70 in a critical condition, Xinhua news agency said, suggesting the death toll could rise further. One train was en route from Beijing to the seaside resort of Qingdao when the accident happened in Zibo, Shandong province. The second train was from the resort of Yantai, in Shandong. Both were likely operating at full speed at the time of the accident, the worst in China since 1997, a cargo worker said. One passenger described escaping the wreckage with her 13-year-old daughter through a massive crack in the floor.

"We were still sleeping when the accident occurred," Xinhua quoted the woman, surnamed Yu, as saying. "I suddenly woke up when I felt the train stopped with a jolt. In a minute or two it started off again, but soon toppled." The accident, which happened at a bend, caused the carriages to topple into a ditch, Xinhua reported, adding that bloodstained sheets and broken Thermos flasks littered the ground.

Xinhua said authorities had determined that the crash was caused by "human error". It did not elaborate. The director and Communist Party chief of the Jinan Railway Bureau, which oversees the line linking Qingdao and the provincial capital Jinan, had been sacked and would be investigated by the Ministry of Railways, Xinhua said.

Four of the injured were French nationals, all of whom were taken to hospital with bone fractures, the report said, adding no foreigners were among the dead. SAILING COACH A coach of China's sailing team who was en route to Qingdao, host of the sailing events for the Beijing Olympics, was seriously hurt and facing amputation of his legs, state television reported.

It did not give his name, and an official reached at the Chinese Yachting Association had no information. Pictures posted at the news portal http://www.sina.com showed carriages overturned and rescue workers milling around passengers wrapped in blankets. The local Qilu Evening News said the railway had begun a new timetable on Monday.

Xinhua said rescuers had been working to remove the wrecked coaches from the tracks to ensure traffic along the line could resume on Tuesday morning. State television said the rail line was built in 1897 and was due to be retired for all but goods trains in favour of a high-speed link to be ready in time to carry passengers from Beijing to Qingdao for the Olympic sailing events.

Railway Minister Liu Zhijun had arrived at the site and President Hu Jintao had dispatched Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang to the scene, Xinhua said. "The city government of Zibo has sent a 1,500-member strong team to help and console the victims' families," it said, adding Railways spokesman Wang Yongping had expressed "deep condolences" for the victims. In January, a high-speed train ran through a group of maintenance workers in the dark in Shandong, killing 18.

China has invested about $100 billion in its railways in the past few years and is expanding the system to accommodate what is the world's most dense passenger and freight network. As it stands, China's railways can barely keep pace with the country's breakneck economic growth or with the hundreds of millions of workers who are flocking from the countryside to booming cities. Monday's accident was the worst in China since 1997, when more than 100 people were killed in a train crash in the central province of Hunan. (Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Lindsay Beck; Editing by Alex Richardson)

India to give $100 million soft loan to Sri Lankan defence: Economic Times

Economic Times, one of India's leading business dailies, on Sunday revealed that in spite of possible "political and diplomatic ramifications", the Indian Government was "finalizing a soft loan package of $100 million for Sri Lankan defence department to buy arms and ammunition." The newspaper went one step ahead and dubbed this move "the India fund for fighting Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka."

Citing reliable sources, the newsreport added that India was giving the loan at a "highly concessional interest rate of just 2%" though Sri Lanka did not come under the category of Least Developed Country which would enable it to secure such a discounted interest.

India was also planning to give another term loan of $100 million to Sri Lanka for railway projects. The combined soft loan amount of $200 million ($100 for defence, $100 for development) was very high compared to India's total "bilateral disbursement of $500 million soft loans" for the entire fiscal year 2008, the Economic Times newsreport said. Moreover, the daily also added that India's move was seen as "yet another attempt to eliminate the Tamil Tigers in an indirect manner."

The aftermath of Muhamalai confrontation

• Official claims say Tigers attacked but other accounts tell a different story
• Conducted media tour onApril 5 turns out to be counterproductive

By Iqbal Athas

Though bizarre, the sequence of events resembled a trailer promoting a film designed to break box office records. However, this was real life drama involving the lives and well-being of the nation's troops fighting a deadly enemy.

Media personnel were taken on a conducted tour to the north early this month. The piece de resistance was a trip to the volatile defence lines at Muhamalai, the divide between the Government-held Jaffna peninsula and Tiger guerrilla-dominated Wanni. It is located on the thin isthmus that links mainland Sri Lanka to the peninsula. The defence line here runs from the banks of the Kilali lagoon on the west to the shores of the Indian Ocean on the east.

Donning body armour and helmets, media personnel caught a glimpse of the sandy stretches at Muhamalai, sad but true, one of the ugliest killing fields of the current phase of the separatist war. Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration, at least two major battles have been fought in this area. Troops have died or lost their limbs in great sacrifice for their motherland. One was in October 2006 and the other in November last year.

Even without the burst of bullets, the thunder of artillery or mortar shells, any soldier knows that Muhamalai is unfriendly terrain. When there is bright sunshine, the plates of rice and curry they hold in their hand are showered by winds with dusty thin sand. Other times when it rains, the ground is soggy and the menace from the mosquitoes is threatening.

With the field visit over, senior Army officers in the peninsula gave the visiting media a detailed briefing of the ground realities. Their accounts made it unequivocally clear that the Army proposed to open a new front. Such a front was only possible by advancing in a southerly direction, across the "no man's land" that lay ahead of guerrilla positions.

Other than that, in the rear the troops were holding the Jaffna peninsula. The Kilaly lagoon lay on the west and the seas on the east. Thus, a thrust past Muhamalai towards Elephant Pass (and perhaps later towards Kilinochchi) was the only logical route. Troops have been already engaging the guerrillas on two other fronts in the Wanni-since July 2, last year in the Mannar sector and since January 7, this year north-east of the Weli Oya sector. One of the aims of the military offensive in the Mannar sector was accomplished on Friday when troops entered the areas in and around the sacred Catholic shrine at Madhu.

The conducted media tour received wide play. Images on television and printed accounts in newspapers left little doubt that a major military thrust from Muhamalai was in the offing. In fact, some senior Army officers in the north had hinted so. Both English and Sinhala media reported that the Army proposed to open a new front. One could argue that reporting impending military operations is intelligence to the enemy and placed the lives of troops in serious jeopardy.

However, here was a case where learned media experts in the military had put together a conducted tour, on their own or at the behest of their superiors who were anxious over media exposure, to convey a message. Hence, most media personnel did not feel there was a need to censor themselves. They also thought that the pundits, who disseminate information on the war, giving statistics and summaries of victories, would know what they were doing. After all, these tours were to highlight the selfless sacrifice of the troops. They were braving all odds. There was no Avurudhu holidays for them.

The media tour was for three days beginning April 5. Alas, just 16 days later all hell broke loose at Muhamalai. Troops died and others suffered injuries, some of them seriously. It is no secret that both the defence and security establishments were deeply embarrassed. Official accounts claimed the fighting broke out after Tiger guerrillas mounted an attack on their defended localities.

"The Muhamalai FDLs (forward defence lines) came under attack from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). They attempted to infiltrate into Government controlled areas in the north," Keheliya Rambukwella, Defence Spokesman, told a news conference on Thursday. He said the Army thwarted the attack. He disclosed that 43 soldiers were killed and 33 were missing in action. A further 126 of them, he said, were in hospital and added that "some of them may go back even today." The full text of Mr. Rambukwella's statement, the questions raised and the answers he gave appear in a box story on this page.

Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka

On Friday, Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka met a select group of media personnel at Army Headquarters. He told them 47 soldiers were killed, 33 were missing in action and over 300 were wounded. He claimed that the Army had advanced by some 600 metres ahead of their original defence lines.

This, he said, meant the guerrilla defences were now only a 100 metres away. He vowed to carry on the military campaign against Tiger guerrillas.

Even if one were to, for purposes of argument, accept that the official versions are factually correct - that the guerrillas launched a surprise attack on the Army's Muhamalai defences - it raises a number of important questions. Firstly, such an attack had taken place only 16 days after the media, during a conducted tour, was shown and told by senior Army officers of the formidable defensive positions. How did such an attack, a serious lapse take place leading to the deaths of even 47 soldiers as claimed?

How did the strong defences become so vulnerable for the guerrillas to cause so much damage?

Secondly, did the guerrillas take a cue from the outcome of the conducted tour (the media reportage) to launch an attack, as claimed? If indeed this is so, did the media pundits who put together the conducted tour do irreparable damage to national security that led to the deaths and injuries to soldiers? Was this attack in any way linked to intelligence reports that the guerrillas had re-called strength from the Mannar sector and deployed them in their Muhamalai defences just days before the incident?

This is besides a strength of some 800 trained cadres, which intelligence reports said, had been poured into Muhamalai weeks earlier? It is therefore clear that claims that the guerrillas mounted an attack raise more questions than answers.This is particularly in the light of troop positions being declared impregnable and plans to open a new front announced to the media.

On the other hand, The Sunday Times has learned from officers and men in the north as well as seniors at Army Headquarters that the Army launched an offensive operation. Here is an account constructed from what they said strictly on grounds of anonymity. The Army's 53 and 55 Divisions broke out of their defences shortly after 2.30 a.m. Wednesday. One flank led by Brigadier Susantha Sooriyabandara had advanced from near the A-9 highway side where the now closed down Muhamalai entry-exit point is located. Another flank led by Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne moved in a southerly direction from the general area across the lagoon west of Nagerkovil. It was an advance from all along the defence lines spanning some eight kilometres. Taking part in the operation were some 5,000 troops though only a lesser number played a fighting role. Others were in supporting roles.

The guerrillas had feigned withdrawal by exiting from their first line of defence. Thereafter, the troops had advanced towards that area when guerrillas sprung a surprise. Heavy fighting broke out. Troops had later returned to their original positions. The guerrillas had fired small arms, artillery and mortars. There were also unconfirmed reports that they used two improvised shells, one named Samathanam (Peace) and the other Raghavan. The first shell, reports said, contained traces of phosphorous but independent confirmation of these reports were not possible.

If indeed these reports are correct, the guerrillas have been using a chemical weapon. The Sunday Times learned that more than one hundred troops were killed in the incident. The LTTE had handed over, through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the bodies of 28 soldiers. A further 348 or more were wounded. On Wednesday, 121 soldiers were admitted to Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital, Kotte, 10 to the Eye Hospital, Colombo, 35 to the National Hospital, Colombo, 40 to the Army Hospital, Colombo and 128 to the Army Hospital in Palaly.

There were reports from Kilinochchi that an unknown number of soldiers were taken as prisoners. However, Army sources are unable to confirm this.

Weapons which the LTTE claims were captured from the Army during battles on Wednesday in Muhamalai

The LTTE remained silent over their casualties. However, Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said 100 guerrillas have been killed. Other claims by Government channels placed the guerrilla death toll at 300.

More details about the incident and the consequent Government responses cannot be divulged due to personal constraints.
Politicians from various parties were allowed to visit the injured troops. However, the media were debarred. This drew an angry response from the Free Media Movement. It said in a statement that:

"Government bars photographers, censors news from war front" 25 April 2008, Colombo, Sri Lanka: Government officials barred photographers from entering hospitals where soldiers injured in battle are being treated, four photo journalists told the Free Media Movement (FMM) yesterday. Hitherto, photographers have had no problems in entering hospitals to report on the casualties of war. It is highly likely that these measures have been taken after heavy losses (numbering in the hundreds) faced by the Sri Lankan Army earlier this week after fighting intensified in the North.

"All government appointed military spokespersons give watered down figures of war casualties and mainstream media are compelled to report these official statistics. Only some foreign wire services and few news websites operating from Colombo reported the battle front casualties independent of government press releases. According to government military statements that have been published by media, the Army has killed more than 3,000 LTTE fighters in 2008. 3,000 was the figure given by Army Commander as the strength of the LTTE military six months ago. In Sri Lanka today the saying that first casualty of war is truth is being proved almost every day.

"The FMM believes that the right of the public to know information and news related to the ongoing war is severely undermined by the restrictions placed on journalists. Both the LTTE and the Government do not allow independent media to cover the war in a manner that accurately reports, amongst other things, the numbers dead and injured. The FMM has demanded both sides to allow media to cover the war independently for nearly 15 years.

"We urge the government and the LTTE to respect the right to information. War propaganda is not a substitute for accurate, impartial and responsible journalism that can only be ensured by supporting and strengthening media freedom and the freedom of expression in Sri Lanka."

Pro-LTTE web sites gave detailed coverage to what they described as how the guerrillas foiled an attack by the Army before crack of dawn on Wednesday. Several photographs, some containing gory accounts of dead troops, others showing piles of weapons reportedly seized and crowds looking at bodies were prominently displayed.

The news of the incident reached Government leaders when the National Security Council was in session. It is here that President Rajapaksa heard the initial accounts. The Sunday Times has learned that there was neither naval nor air support when the operation got under way. The inclusion of naval and air support in a major operation, even to a lay mind it is clear, is of much significance. So are contingency plans for evacuation of the wounded.

The Commanders of the Navy and the Air Force were unaware of the operation. So was the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Only after the offensive had ended, however, the Air Force had carried out sorties. One was on a guerrilla artillery gun position.

In the light of this a number of questions beg answer. What led to the poor planning of such an offensive operation without inputs from the Navy and the Air Force? Where does accountability for this for this serious debacle rest and was approval of the defence hierarchy obtained? These are just a few of the multitude of questions that arise. These questions are being raised in the national interest. Poorly planned offensives in the past have shown how they have imperilled life and limb of troops and demoralised a nation.

On Friday, Army Headquarters shifted Brigadier Samantha Sooriyabandara as officiating General Officer Commanding the 53 Division. He is tipped to go as Defence Attache in the Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington D.C. This position was taken over by Brig. Kamal Gunaratne. Taking over as officiating GOC 55 Division is Brigadier Prassanna Silva. The latter, together with many officers including then Eastern Commander Maj. Gen. Parakrama Pannipitiya, were among those who successfully conducted offensive operations against Tiger guerrillas in the East. This paved the way for the re-capture of the East. Brig. Silva was until this week attached to the Army's garrison at Kosgama.

Amidst the confusion created by conflicting accounts over Wednesday's incidents at Muhamalai, the guerrillas exploded a bomb inside a bus at Piliyandala on Friday evening. At least 26 civilians were killed and more than 65 wounded.

As reported last week, the guerrillas have opened new fronts in the Central Province prompting the Ministry of Defence to appoint Maj. Gen. Lawrence Fernando a senior Army officer, as Overall Operations Commander. This showed a widening of guerrilla activity.

On Thursday, Defence Spokesman Rambukwella declared that the Government's military campaign was "on track" and they hope to weaken the guerrillas by the end of this year.

The remarks indeed are assuring. Unlike at news conferences, such an achievement should come in the battlefields if the guerrillas are to be defeated. That is the challenge for the people of Sri Lanka and the troops who are fighting so valiantly. Until that is achieved, the guerrillas will remain a potent threat.

No LTTE by the end of the year: Govt.

Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella made the following remarks over the Muhamalai incidents at a news conference on Thursday:

Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella

"It is important to be aware about the real situation at Muhamalai. There are various reports in the media. We want to give this information with some responsibility. Like during the incident in Anuradhapura (attack on the air base) I want to emphasize that the information is based on reports available up to now. I repeat that it is up to this time.

"Day before night, Muhamali FDLs came under attack from the LTTE. They attempted to infiltrate into Government controlled areas in Jaffna. They had been fully prepared. The Army thwarted the attack.

They repulsed the attack. 43 soldiers were killed and 33 soldiers are missing in action. Earlier it was 38 and five of them had come back. As at now 33 are missing. Nearly 160 are injured and of them 22 have returned to the front. 126 are in hospital and some of them may go back even today.

"According to the information over 100 LTTE cadres have been killed and 81 of them could be named. 196 of them have been injured. The army was able to go to the LTTE FDL - that is about 500 metres. They have been pushed back to the second defence line. The first line is under the control of the Army.

"Regarding Muhamalai, I have to reiterate as of now. The LTTE in a large strength, possibly with the maximum strength they were trying to infiltrate the FDL of the Army. The Army has been able to repulse the attack and move forward about 500 metres and the Army is confident and has established lines where the LTTE FDL was. In this confrontation 43 army personnel have died, 33 are missing. Earlier, 38 soldiers were missing and, of them five returned."

Q: When You say 81 Tigers are confirmed dead, what did you mean?

A: That is the information the Army has received.

Q: Of the 43 soldiers killed, how many bodies have been recovered.

A: All 43 bodies.

Q: The Tigers say they got 30 bodies.

A: That is why we say 33 are missing.

Q:How do you expect most of them to come back

A: Earlier we had 38 missing and five of them have come back . So we have counted that 33 are missing.

Q: On the defence.lk website they first said that this was a military offensive. You are now saying that they retaliated after an attack. Which one is correct?

Brig: Udaya Nanayakkara, Military Spokesman: The MCNS said it was a retaliatory attack

Q: So the Ministry of Defence got it wrong.

Brig: They have said it wrong

Q: How many LTTE bodies have you got?

Brig: Six LTTE bodies

Q: If you have been able to reach the LTTE FDL, how have the Tigers been able to take pictures of the dead soldiers in a trench?

Brig: This is an attack we have carried out forward of their line of defence. We are holding on to that line. Even some troops have gone forward into their territory. Those soldiers who have gone forward are those missing. Those photographs may be those who have gone missing.

Q: Some of the reports say this was a military disaster

Keheliya Rambukwella: Certainly not. Certainly not. Disasters have happened when 1500 people were killed in Elephant pass.

Q: Is it a set back

A: We have moved forward, so it is not a setback. If you move backwards you can call it setback.

Q: Is it that when the troops moved forward the LTTE had registered their artillery and mortar positions to fire at the soldiers. This was an ambush essentially. It sounds like that troops fell into a trap of the LTTE.

A: One could interpret it that way. When you engage in a battle of this nature, a 30-year-old battle, we have debacles. In between we have fierce battles, and that is part of the routine. As far as the Army is concerned they are confident that they have moved forward. They have established themselves. That is the target. They have gone 500 metres.

Q: Will there be more offensives in Muhamalai?

A: You cannot say, but the liberation operations will continue.

Q: Regarding the elimination of the LTTE, at one point you told April and now you have said the end of the year.

A: Subsequently it was told end of the year. That stands.

Q: You mean end of the year there will be no LTTE?

A: That is what the Army Commander had said. Plans are set out to eliminate the LTTE by the end of the year.

Q: So the plan is to eliminate terrorism by the end of the year?

A: That was repetition of what the Army Commander had said.

Q: Is that the official stand of the govt?

A: It is the defence authorities.

Q: The Government hopes to end terrorism by the end of the year?

A: I am repeating that the Army has said that its plans are to end terrorism.

Q: What we are asking is about Government plans to end terrorism by the end of the year.

A: The Commander is part of the govt. The Government does not take a different stand.

Q: So the Army Commander and the Government still say that the LTTE will be beaten by the end of the year.

A: I have told you very clearly, the Government gets information from the defence authorities. The defence authorities have said very clearly that they have plans to end terrorism by the end of the year. The Government has accepted that.

Q: About the strength of the LTTE, how does their strength grow?

A: It could be about 50 per cent of their strength would have been in the FDL. The UN has confirmed that the Child recruitment is going on.

Q: Will there be any inquiry held?

A: Those are routine things. The Army will look into them.

Q: What is the significance of this operation?

A: You have to ask the LTTE.

Q: From the military point of view how do you view the recapture.

A: We have advanced.