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’Much may have changed in the world since September 11 last year, but the message from Sri Lanka is that terrorism works,’ says Mark Baker of the Sydney Morning Herald reporting on the first round of talks between the government and the LTTE in Thailand. ‘The Sinhalese-dominated Government would never have sat down to negotiate a power-sharing deal with the Tigers if their armed forces had not been fought to a bloody stalemate on the battlefields of northern Sri Lanka, and if the country's economy had not been devastated by an escalating military budget and the heavy toll wrought on tourism, foreign investment and business confidence by the endless cycle of devastating terrorist attacks.’ ‘Despite their military successes, the Tigers were facing a tougher outlook in the wake of September 11. New global financial controls threatened their vital aid pipeline from expatriate Tamils and there was a danger that the American war on terrorism would result in a boost in support for Sri Lanka's armed forces. The Tigers chose to seize the moment to maximise their advantage.’
‘Since the formal ceasefire was implemented the Tigers' de facto control in the north and east has been given informal recognition with the establishment of internationally monitored boundaries, the reopening of road links, the lifting of an economic embargo and the arrival of Government aid for reconstruction projects.’
‘In Thailand this week the inexorable transformation of the Tigers from guerillas to bureaucrats was given a fresh fillip - not least by their anointment as equal negotiating partners.’
Says, Frances Harrison of the BBC, “In the areas they control the Tamil Tigers run a parallel government, with their own police and judiciary. The Tigers claim a homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority in the north and east of the island, part of which is already under their control.”
“And although it is not what one would expect from one of the world's most deadly guerrilla groups, the Tiger's own police force can even be found implementing day to day issues such as speed restrictions on roads.”
Baker continues saying, “But as peace looms, an inescapable fact remains: the Tigers have all but won the effective independence of the territories under their control in northern and eastern Sri Lanka - an area embracing almost a third of the island - through the most determined and ruthless application of the tactics of terrorist warfare.”
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