Both sides of this war have suffered heavy casualties in its final stages. The Sri Lankan government is unlikely to extend power-sharing beyond what has been provided for in the existing system of Provincial Councils.
The euphoric, exaggerated responses to the attack on the Anuradhapura airbase on October 22 by the pro-LTTE media ignore simple but vitally relevant facts. It was, in fact, a bigger fiasco than that of March 2007
For the LTTE cheer-leaders, the bombing of the Sri Lankan airbase epitomised both the innovativeness and indefatigability of the Tiger leadership as well as the blundering buffoonery of the security forces. A Sri Lankan look at the impulses and impli
The Ceasefire Agreement has held out despite deliberate, continuous and massive violations by the LTTE. There is, however, no way to predict what could prove to be the proverbial last straw which would hurl the country into open war again.
It was the contrasting stances of the two candidates on the ethnic conflict (rather than their economic pledges) that had an overwhelmingly decisive impact on voter alignments.
Kadirgamar's assassination signifies a clear message from the Tiger leadership to all concerned, that it is unwilling to abandon terrorism and its total contempt towards international opinion in that regard.
What appears amazing is not so much Colonel Karuna's failure to sustain his challenge to Prabhakaran's hegemony over the LTTE, but the speed at which he succumbed to the military onslaught launched by the Vanni high-command.
Opinion is growing in Sri Lanka that the Norwegians are not entirely impartial in their role as mediators. Whether President Kumaratunga's precipitated a crisis or averted an impending one, needs to be examined more closely.
From Secession to Regional Autonomy? The Tigers have systematically tailored their rhetoric to the imperatives and expedients of the moment. There is little current evidence of substantive change on this count.
It is not clear how the clashing aspirations and apprehensions of Sri Lanka's Muslims will be reconciled within the present negotiation process.
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