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KARUNA WANTS TO SIGN A NEW CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT WITH PRESIDENT CHANDRIKA WHILE LTTE WARNS AGAINST ANY CONNECTION WITH THEM BY THE SRI LANKA GOVERNMENT
Photo
Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, also known as Karuna, the Tamil Tiger leader who split from the rebels, smiles at his Meenahanam Military Base in the jungles in Baticaloa district in eastern Sri Lanka March 11, 2004.
(Photo by: Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi )
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

March 12, 07.30 PM: The renegade leader of the breakaway faction of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) Col. Karuna, and his new Tiger faction of the Tamil guerillas have decided to approach , Sri Lanka’s executive President Chandrika Kumaratunga to sign a fresh Ceasefire Agreement with them to avoid future military clashes with the Sri Lankan security forces , reports from Colombo said.



Meanwhile, LTTE’s Political Section Head in Wanni at a press conference severely warned the Sri Lanka government not to have any dealings with the breakaway Eastern faction of the LTTE.

The warning came after the LTTE was in consultation with visiting Eric Solheim who suddenly visited Sri Lanka to bring about some solutions for the problems created by the biggest division of the Tamil rebel group during the last two decades. According to allegations by the Opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna affiliated organizations, Eric Solheim represents the interests of the terrorist group LTTE while purportedly engages himself as Norway’s Special Envoy in Sri Lanka’s “Peace process”.

Sri Lanka’s leading Sinhala newspaper, the Divaina, in a lead story by their staff writer T. Chandrasekera said the hierarchy of the new rebel outfit at a meeting decided to request President Chandrika Kumaratunga to agree to a new Ceasefire agreement in regard to the Eastern Province since the earlier Ceasefire agreement LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran signed with the UNF Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was no longer valid. Furthermore, they decided , the newspaper said , that Karuna saw Prabhakaran’s Ceasefire Agreement as a useless and obsolete one since it did not involve the country’s executive President , that led to numerous problems. But Solheim denied that that he was attempting to make peace between the two Tamil factions.

The Norway led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has also announced that temporarily the would monitor only areas under the control of the LTTE and avoid patrolling the Eastern Province until the present crisis was solved.

The Karuna faction of the LTTE also decided that for any Ceasefire agreement to succeed it should be thoroughly engaged with the Executive President of the country. Since the LTTE and the UNP were heavily bonded together during the previous election time in a secret pact

While Pr0- Ranil Wickremesinghe factor newspapers were trying to speculate that that Prabhakaran was ready to give amnesty to Karuna, yesterday, (March 10) Thamilchelvan also said that the LTTE Supremo Prabhakaran would decide about punishment that should be meted out to him soon. In regard to the last Deputy leader ,Mahendraraja Mahaththaya , when he became a dissident was sent to a dungeon prison, tortured and killed.

Reflecting the mood of the South the Patriotic National Movement said that it was a blessing for all peoples of Sri Lanka that the LTTE was divided. Dr. Gunadasa Amaraekera, a leader of the movement said the division by Karuna ended the myth that the LTTE was the sole representative of the Tamils and it also ended one era of the LTTE dictatorship which especially harmed the Tamils. He said Norway, in the guise of bringing peace was actually helping the LTTE to divide the country. He said, for Sri Lanka’s sake the Norway participation should be ended.

Other reports from Eastern Province said that a troop of soldiers sent by the LTTE leadership to attack Karuna had now fled Verugal camp of the Mahaweli river bank after sensing Karuna’s troops were getting ready to attack them The reports also quoting Varathan, spokesman for Karuna said that some boats sent by Pottuamman carrying pro-Prabhakaran troops were also chased out by fire power.

At the Wanni Press Conference Thamilchelvan claimed that the newly appointed Political head, Karikalan and the military leader Ramesh , so far , remained , in Wanni without leaving for the Eastern Province Tkamilchelvan was asked whether this was because they were all afraid of Karuna.

Ramesh who was there at the press conference said it was done in that way since they wanted to avoid any bloodshed.

( go2lanka.com)