A three-year truce between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels is in jeopardy as Colombo has failed to fulfil its promises to restore normalcy and has eliminated prominent Tamils, a top rebel leader said on Saturday. President Chandrika Kumaratunga was also dragging her feet on sharing $2 billion of aid pledged by donors to help reconstruct coastal areas ravaged by the Indian Ocean tsunami and the rebels now doubted if a deal to share aid would be implemented even if it was signed, said S.P. Thamilselvan, head of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
He told Reuters in an interview that more than $1 billion will be needed to rebuild Tamil areas destroyed by the waves but Colombo remained apathetic four months after the disaster.
His comments were the most threatening since the December 26 tsunami after which the government and the rebels had signalled they would forge unity. It was also the first time the LTTE put a number on the amount they needed as aid.
Comments
Comments are closed.