LTTE’s chief negotiator Anton Balasingham listed a number of reasons for the decision in a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, including failure on the part of the Sri Lankan government to fully implement the ceasefire agreement of February 2002. But the main cause that led to the withdrawal is the exclusion of the Tigers from a US-sponsored international donor conference in Washington on 14 April.
Mr Balasingham says that they view the ‘exclusion of the LTTE, the principle partner to peace and the authentic representatives of the Tamil people, from discussions on critical matters affecting the economic and social welfare of the Tamil nation, as a grave breach of good faith’.
The US say legal constraints had prevented an invitation to the Tigers. The LTTE remain on the US list of terrorist organisations since 8 October 1997. US ambassador Ashley Wills admits that the ceasefire has not been perfect, but notes that the blame does not fall exclusively on the Sri Lankan government. He called on the LTTE to reflect on its own transgressions such as assassination of opponents, intimidation of Muslims, taxation without representation, aggressive Sea Tiger behaviour and child recruitment.
The LTTE point out that the military occupation of Tamil lands, denying the right of displaced people to return home, is unfair and unjust. They accuse the government of distortion of the extreme conditions of poverty and deprivation of the Tamils in macro-economic policies. The Tigers are particularly incensed by the government’s economic strategy document Regaining Sri Lanka, which they say fails to examine causes of poverty, effects of ethnic war and the unique conditions of devastation in the north-east.
The LTTE also announced that they would not take part in the aid conference in Tokyo on 9 June, where a sum of $2 billion is expected to be pledged for reconstruction efforts. The work of the committees, including the Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs (SIHRN) have also come to a standstill.
The opposition parties, including those vehemently opposing the peace process, condemned the LTTE for the withdrawal and called for Tiger decommissioning as a pre-condition for resuming talks. Lakshman Kadirgamar, who is foreign affairs advisor to the President, demanded the inclusion of India in monitoring the ceasefire.
Despite the apparent cordiality in peace talks, tension between the parties has been mounting following confrontations between the Sri Lankan Navy and the LTTE’s naval wing, the Sea Tigers. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the international ceasefire monitoring body, had asked both the Sri Lankan government and the Tigers to submit proposals to avoid clashes.
On 9 April, the LTTE proposed the recognition of the Sea Tigers as a naval unit on par with the Sri Lankan Navy, the demarcation of a line of control, extending 200 nautical miles along the north-east coast from the Jaffna peninsula to Trincomalee, for navigation, training and live firing exercises. Lines of control have been recognized on land, under the ceasefire agreement.
Observers say Sea Tiger chief Col. Soosai wants to strengthen the naval unit because of his concern over US military assistance to Colombo. The LTTE have maintained that the Sri Lankan Navy operation Waruna Kirana (Coloured Rays), continuing since 25 May 2001, throwing a naval cordon around the north-east coast, is not included in the ceasefire agreement and therefore a violation. The government insists that the ceasefire agreement does not affect the Navy’s duty to safeguard the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and claims that the LTTE informally accepted such position.
The SLMM, has emphasized throughout that ‘balance of forces’ is vital to maintenance of peace. The head of SLMM, Tryggve Tellefson proposed in a working paper on 20 April that the Sea Tigers should be recognized as a de facto naval unit and excluded from the regulations under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which impose restrictions on the power of outboard motors of boats.
Indian commentators warned that a LTTE naval force with freedom of movement has serious security implications for the region and called on India to pressure Sri Lanka to reject Tiger demands. In Sri Lanka, the opposition parties were up in arms, accusing the SLMM of favouring the Tigers and undermining the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. In the face of such opposition, the SLMM withdrew the proposals and submitted fresh proposals.
As governments and agencies around the world urged the LTTE to reconsider their decision and return to negotiations, people in Sri Lanka braced themselves for the nightmare scenario of war. The Sri Lankan government strengthened security of ministers and other VIPs. But Constitutional Affairs minister GL Peiris expressed confidence that disputes will be resolved quickly and negotiations resumed in the near future.