Date of the incident

Name of the victim

Place of the incident

Dead/injured

1

19^th Feb 2005

Mr.Vadivel Ravichandran (29)

Kiran

Shot and injured admitted to Valaichenai hospital

2

20^th February 2005

Mr.Vanniyasingam Manoharan (45)

Muthukal

Karuppalai

Wellikantha

Shot dead . 7 am in the Rd.

3

20^th February 2005

Mr.Vinayagamoorthy Jeyakanthan (35)

Cheaiyoor, Karuppalai

Welikantha

Shot and injured admitted to Polanaruwa hospital

4

28^th Feb 2005

Mr.Subramaniyam Thayanithy (44)

Arasady Welfare centre Batticaloa

Shot dead in front of the TRO office in Batticaloa

5

2^nd of March 2005

Mr.Poopalapillai Harithas (24)

Amarasingham Street,

Arayampahy

Shot and injured by the LTTE motor cycle death squad. Admitted to Batticaloa hospital

6

5th March of 2005

Mr.Kandaiah Kanesarasa (26)

Pillair Kovil Veethy,

Santhiveli

Shot and injured at Govinthan Veethy in front of ICRC office

7

5th of March 2005

Mr.Mylvaganam Pulendran (27)

Ward 15

Vantharmoolai

Shot dead near the Amman kovil in the evining on 5.03.2005

8

5th of March 2005

Muthulingam Ratnakumar (27)

Pankudahvelli

Abduted

9

5th of March 2005

Mr.Kanthasamy Chandran (32)

Main Street

Chenkaladdy

Abducted and Shot dead

10

6^th March 2005

Mr.Mohamed Husein

Ottamavady

Shot dead. 4 Muslims 1 Tamil1Sinhalese were shot dead in Holucunavei

11

6^th March 2005

Mrs. Husein

Ottamavady

Shot and injured

12

6^th March 2005

Mr.Abdul Jabar

Ottamavady

Shot dead

13

6^th March 2005

Mr.Mohamed Hanifa

Ottamavady

Shot dead

14

6^th March 2005

Mr.Saruthamby Jesmar

Ottamavady

Shot dead

15

6^th March 2005

Mr.Arudchoon Selvarasa

Union colony, Vallaichenai

Shot dead

16

6^th March 2005

Mr.Vijayasooriya

Kolakkuna Velikanda

Shot dead

17

6^th March 2005

Miss. Vijayasooriya

Kolakkuna Velikanda

Shot and injured

18

6^th March 2005

Mr.Sutha santhirasingam Kamalathasan (26)

Amarasingam Veethy

Arayampathy

Was called out of the house Shot dead in the street

19

7^th March 2005

Mr.Velautham Ilankeswaran (25)

Thalavai

Shot dead

20

7^th March 2005

Mr.Thevarasa Sivasankar

Thimilaitheivu, Batticaloa

Shot and escaped

21

7^th March 2005

Mr.Sithiravel Santhakumar

Thimilaitheivu, Batticaloa

Shot and escaped

22

7^th March 2005

Mr.Sivarajah Raveendran

Kaddumuri, Kathiraveli

Shot and injured

23

8^th March 2005

Alagiah Kirubeswaran (35)

Thirchenthur,

Kallady

Batticaloa

Shot dead at the bus halt near Baticaloa Hospital

24

8^th March 2005

A.S. Hakeem

Ottamavady

Hacked to death

25

9^th March 2005

Christie Gnanasooryam Sellappilai

Periya Oorani

Shot and injured

26

 10^th March 2005

Vaithilingam Raveendran

Kadukkamunai

Abduction 12 noon infront his Home.

27

11^th March 2005

Subramaniyam Baheerathan

Hospital Road Batticaloa

4 People were Injured when a granade attach launched  in PLOTE Office 

28

11^th March 2005

Thambirasa Balasundaram

Hospital Road Batticaloa

Injured in grenade attack

29

11^th March 2005

Nagamani Sivarasa

Hospital Road Batticaloa

Injured in grenade attack

30

11^th March 2005

Baheerathan Ledchumikanth

Hospital Road Batticaloa

Injured in grenade attack

31

14^th March 2005

Subramaniyam Kunasegaram

Karupola, Sevanapittiya

Injured in grenade attack

32

14^th March 2005

Selvanayagam Selvanathan

Karupola, Sevanapittiya

Shot dead

33

15^th March 2005

Mylvaganam Jeyakanesh

Main Street,

Chenkalady

Shot dead

34

16^th March 2005

Thambirasa Jegan

Mankerni Valaichenai

Shot dead At Maruthamunai Main Rd

35

16^th March 2005

Kandiah Pathmanathan Manoj (25)

Ward 5

Vakerai

Shot dead at 8pm when traveling towards Maruthanarni Rd Welikanda

 Pirabaharan drives into a cul-de sac

28.11.2004

Amidst propaganda hype and media frenzy the LTTE leader’s annual speech was delivered on 27^th November 2004. The LTTE has built up a vast media network across the globe. It is a multi-million dollar entity; resources are partly drawn from the funds Tamil Diaspora is donating to the liberation struggle. Other Tamil owned medias in the Diaspora are competing with each other in eulogising the LTTE and its activities. The so-called independent Tamil media is unashamedly justifying anything and everything the LTTE is telling and some of the lead writers in this media even go to the extent of urging the LTTE to kill its opponents and they get away with it. As far as the Tamil media is concerned journalistic or media ethics is non-existent.  In addition to this the LTTE has also mastered the art of orchestrating this event by feeding reputable independent news agencies prior to the event so that some of those news agencies also publish this speech simultaneously.  News and speculations about the contents of the speech raises the curiosity of all those Sri Lanka watchers, political leaders and diplomatic community alike and make them anxiously wait to hear or have a glimpse of the contents. The LTTE propaganda operatives must be credited for their skill and the efficiency with which they spin this event.

Having created such expectations and invited the attention of everyone in this manner, Pirabaharan was put in an unenviable position to perform. It is definitely a gigantic task to deliver the expected substance to such a captive audience, even if he had some new stratagem or any magic formula to alleviate the anxieties of his ‘subjects’. The Political observers who had carefully studied the speech are almost unanimous in saying that the speech spelled out neither. Even some pro LTTE analysts find it difficult to conceal their disappointment.  Firstly the voice modulation and the way he read out the speech sounded more like a newsreader devoid of any passion or engagement. Listeners noticed that some of the radio and television newsreaders who; were narrating the event sounded more emotionally charged than the speaker himself. One cannot blame Pirabaharan for the absence of passion, because he probably knows that there is nothing to be passionate about in the content of his speech.

Militarist Jingoism  

A part of the original speech in Tamil dealt with the usual rhetoric of recalling the military ‘victories’ against the Sri Lankan army and reminded how his organisation wrested the control of a large part of the land and referred to the civil administration that has been put in place in these areas. He also spoke of the military equilibrium he has achieved with the Sri Lankan State. This often repeated militaristic jingoism sounded hollow in the context of the realities of insecurity, humiliation, continuing murders, abductions, and utter hopelessness that prevails in the North-East. 

Fundamentalist Nationalism  

He dedicated another section of his speech to exacerbate the distrust and hatred of the Sinhala polity by using the age-old technique of dismissing and accusing the SLFP, UNP and other chauvinist sections for their ‘intransigence’.  Observers noticed that there is nothing new, and the Federal Party (FP) leaders of yester years following their failed attempts to reach agreement with Sinhala leaders had said exactly the same things thirty-five years ago. This is the mentality of the tell tale well frog. It demonstrated once again the failure of the LTTE to be cognizant of the complex realities of today’s political landscape of Sri Lanka and the influences of the emerging micro political undercurrents.

There is a growing desire within major sections of the Sinhala polity, which seek to resolve the national question and aspire to hasten the process of Nation building.  CBK’s 1994 proposal, their election manifesto and the subsequent endorsement by the electorate are all manifestation of this tendency.  Similar tendencies exist among the emerging younger generation leaders of the UNP.  JVP too are showing movement regarding Tamil autonomy. Other traditional left parties have largely been supportive of devolution all along.  An optimistic, responsible, modern, outward looking and visionary Tamil leadership would have attempted to identify and nurture such tendencies and engage them to evolve a consensus.

Instead the LTTE leader is keen in his speech to interpret the last election results as the evidence of polarising fundamentalist positions. He said, “While the verdict of the general election helped to reinforce Sinhala-Buddhist hegemonism in the Sinhala south, Tamil nationalism arose as a unified collective force in the northeastern Tamil homeland.”  The last general election in the northeast has been condemned and dismissed by all observers as fraudulent and the MPs returned are persons of no consequence. Even the LTTE rank and file treat them with the utter disdain they deserve.   However this is a clear illustration of the intent and the fundamentalist designs of the LTTE leadership. The LTTE would like to live in the past and reinforce the fundamentalist sections within Sinhala polity to justify their inability to move forward.

Contradictory positions regarding peace process

Tamil speaking people and the International community keenly awaited  forward movement in the moribund peace process facilitated by the Norwegians. This is probably one area of some interest for all the observers. In his speech he said “Three years have lapsed since we entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka, after three decades of protracted armed struggle. You are fully aware that during this period of ceasefire we have been making every endeavour, with sincerity and commitment, to seek a negotiated settlement to the Tamil national question” Well; that would have been a positive message if he went on to elaborate what he has or has not done about it, and how they propose to pursue this further. Instead he went on to accuse the Sri Lankan government. He stated, “ The government says that any form of interim administration should be an integral part of a permanent settlement. While we (LTTE) are demanding an interim administrative set-up, the Kumaratunga government is insisting on talks for a permanent settlement to the ethnic conflict” In other words the LTTE was exposed as an entity which is opposed to the permanent resolution of the conflict.  The government may or may not be sincere about resolving the national question for reasons best known to them, but as a party to the negotiation, it is the responsibility of the LTTE to pin them down.  The LTTE has failed miserably in this context.

 ISGA :  LTTE’s panacea for all existential problems. 

The Interim self-Governing authority (ISGA) has been touted as the panacea for all the existential problems of the Tamils. This is an outrageous claim by any standards. Tamil peoples’ existential problems are many fold; from the squalid conditions under which they are forced to live, to the virtual disenfranchisement during the fraudulent last general elections are real issues which need to be addressed. Tamil people strongly feel that the LTTE is also responsible for their present plight to a large extent. The LTTE’s scheme of imposing its will and staking the undemocratic and primitive claim of being the ‘sole representative’ of the Tamils is not only unpalatable but also will never be practical.  If the LTTE attempts to wriggle out of the peace process on the issue of ISGA, that will only give the Sri Lankan government another opportunity to justify the postponement of devolution.  The LTTE has every right to forward what it thinks is right; and perhaps a section of the Tamils may even agree with the LTTE that the ISGA should be given to them unconditionally. There are also a substantial section of Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese living in the North-East who have genuine concerns and are opposed to ISGA being given to the LTTE. In addition to this there are also serious questions of ISGA’s viability inside the existing Sri Lankan constitution.  If the LTTE were unable to adopt a realistic position on the ISGA issue, an internationally supervised referendum would become inevitable, not only to determine this question, but also to decide the composition of the Tamil negotiating team.

Launching the freedom struggle

Pirabaharan concluded his message by saying “We have no alternative other than to advance the freedom struggle of our nation. We call upon the concerned international governments to understand our predicament and prevail upon the Sri Lanka government to resume peace talks based on our fair and reasonable stand.”  Many in the international community including Tamils perhaps, would be prepared to show some sympathy with the leader’s predicament, who just turned fifty, if he asked for it without the threat of war and with some sense of remorse. Tamil people know the real meaning of war. It means, death, destruction and continuing subjugation of the Tamils to one or the other warlords. In other words it is the appearance of a ‘grim reaper’, with a doomed message. In effect the Tamil struggle was driven into a cul-de-sac with Pirabaharan in the driving seat under the full glare of the publicity the LTTE so cleverly devised.

Political inability of the LTTE and the challenges ahead

14.11.2004

  There was a flurry of activities in Colombo and Vanni last week.  The Norwegian foreign minister, Jan Patterson arrived with much expectation that he could inject some sense into the Vanni leadership and bring them out of the political siege. The Norwegians must have also persuaded Anton Balasingam to be present during their meeting with the reclusive LTTE leader. There has not even been the usual joint press conference with both the LTTE and the Norwegian mediators. Observers believe that the Norwegians are becoming increasingly frustrated with the LTTE’s intransigence. Mr.Pirabhakaran’s smiles and hand shakes with Jan Patterson or Mr.Solheim’s gentle peck on Adel’s cheek for the TV crew all looked fine and cultured, however they failed to disguise the political inability of the LTTE to meaningfully engage the Sri Lankan Government. Instead it provided yet another opportunity and excuse for the Government to postpone the discussions on Tamil Autonomy.

 Let us consider, what the real obstacles to the continuation of this peace process are and the reasons provided by the LTTE for their inability to continue this process. The LTTE argues that they do not agree with the Government’s position that the negotiations on core issues; meaning negotiations towards a final solution; needs to begin now. In other words LTTE oppose negotiations for a permanent solution. Balasingam said to the press  “The Tamil people have been talking about a permanent settlement, about federalism for fifty years. We can go on talking. But the urgent humanitarian needs of our people have to be addressed soon.”  This candid statement starkly exposes the political inability of the LTTE.

 Firstly, indeed the Tamil people have been trying to negotiate with the Sri Lankan state for more than fifty years in different form and in different contexts. It is also true that the Tamil leaderships failed to secure a meaningful deal to meet the aspirations of our people. But they did not just went on talking as Mr. Balasingam understood, they attempted to secure agreements such as Banda-Selva pact or used opportunities such as Indo-Lanka accord to realise the dream of regional autonomy. On both occasions these attempts were torpedoed first one by the chauvinists and the second by the shortsighted opportunists from both communities. The question now is how the LTTE is going to approach this differently?   Years ago the LTTE said that the talks have always failed so the only answer is to establish a separate state through an armed struggle. The LTTE’s about turn to come back to a negotiated settlement route is also an admission that it’s armed struggle failed to deliver. It is in fact a realisation of LTTE’s limitation. Some people may even forget the past and forgive the LTTE for taking the Tamil nation on such a detour to arrive where we began at a very high cost. But the Tamils will be genuinely offended by the LTTE’s attempt to project the negotiations as a result of their military success. 

 The notion that LTTE is maintaining a military balance with the Sri Lankan state is duplicitous and an insult to the intelligence of the Tamils. It is true that the LTTE is in a position to inflict lethal attacks on economic and political targets.  This does not constitute a military balance in relation to Sri Lankan state.  Al-Quaida was in a position to inflict heavy damage on USA on 9-11; it does not mean that Al-Quaida and USA are in a state of military balance. On the contrary it only gave an excuse and legitimacy for the USA to execute its political agenda regarding Afghanistan and Iraq. 

We all knew when the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) decided to withdrew due to internal political compulsions, the LTTE boasted that they have defeated the fourth largest army in the world;  implying that the defeat of the Sri Lankan army and the subsequent establishment of Eelam were imminent.  It is almost fourteen years since that tragic episode and where are we now?  We as a nation are fast disintegrating, our social fabric is torn apart, our youths in Vanni and the Eastern provinces are almost condemned to live under one or the other military authority. So let us stop this fantasyland story of maintaining military balance with the Sri Lankan state. The central question is what the LTTE can do to improve the lives of the Tamils. It is becoming increasingly clear that the LTTE has no answer to this question. LTTE’s only response is that they will further militarise the Tamil society where they will reign supreme.

 It is the well-argued political position that needs to be advanced.  LTTE is said to have put so much effort in constructing this draft document for the Interim Self-governing Authority (ISGA).  If that is so why are they inhibited to use it as a basis for negotiations for a permanent solution? There is no rationale to be obsessed about the ‘interim’ nature of the solution. Only plausible reason is that they see the permanent solution would impede their attempt to tighten and legitimise their military grip on the Tamil society, which can only be achieved via an interim authority. Any permanent solution mediated by the International community has to ensure democracy, human rights and pluralism.  LTTE appears to be apprehensive that these concepts would negate their existence. This is one of the obstacles to the progress in the talks.

 Secondly, LTTE’s talk of “urgent humanitarian needs has to be addressed” is an attempt to exploit the plight and anxieties of those people who are trapped in this war. LTTE has been saying this for the last nineteen months.  In fact they used this as an excuse to walk out of the direct negotiations.  If the needs are so urgent, dragging the negotiations for nineteen long months does not seem to be logical. The Tamil people do not seriously believe that injecting millions of dollars into the LTTE coffers will alleviate the hardships of the Tamils in any way. On the contrary, going by the past experience it will only lead to an intensified conflict and hence more suffering to the people.

Tamil people do have an urgent humanitarian need. The continuing political killings must stop. Almost everyday somebody is murdered. Victims are mostly those unfortunate youths who were trapped in this quagmire of conflict. The extortion racket in the name of ‘taxation’ must come to an end.  Child conscription in all form and manner must stop. Lastly there must be transparency in the ongoing relief and reconstruction work. This can only be guaranteed by a democratically elected element present in the interim arrangement.

 If the ISGA draft is such an important document, LTTE must be prepared to have a consultative process within the Tamil community to assess the merits of it.  Mr.Balasingam’s arrogance and the casual manner in which he says that the ISGA has been endorsed by the Tamils in the last general election is farcical and an affront to the common sense of the Tamils.  All the observers condemned the last general election in the Tamil area. The fact remains that probably many LTTE backed candidates might have even won. So as others such as the articulate lawyer Mr. Srikantha of TELO/TNA in Jaffna and the prominent leaders like Mr. V. Annathasangary of the TULF also would have won. This would have given LTTE some legitimacy but they opted to impose the only way they know and as a result made the whole election as a joke. Apart from that, there has never been any informed debate about the content of the ISGA or the negotiating strategy.

 LTTE’s aspiration of becoming elected representatives of Tamils is a dream not likely to be realised in the foreseeable future.  Probably LTTE is fully aware of this and understandably opposed to free and fair elections in the North-East. LTTE should pick this up as a challenge and go for an internationally supervised free and fair election to prove its self-proclaimed credential as the representative of the Tamils.  Democratic Tamils must contest such election and call for a plebiscite to determine the Tamil agenda for negotiation.

 CBK’s Indian visit and Tamil  anxieties

5. 11. 2004

The Sri Lankan President is on a five-day official visit to Delhi starting from today.  In India this is considered as an important event, so much so that posters of Chandrika and Man Mohan Singh the Indian Prime Minister, have been plastered along the routes the leaders will travel. Political observers believe that Indo- Lanka relations are at an all time high. It has gone through a difficult time during the Premadasa – Rajiv period when both countries were almost on the brink of war.  It has been almost one and a half decades since that unfortunate sequence of events and they are slowly becoming a distant historical memory. Since then both Sri Lankan and Indian leaders of all parties have taken much care and carefully constructed the present state of relationship.

  On the Sri Lankan side both the UNP and the PA have worked without any contradiction and continue to consolidate each other’s work in this regard.  There is a concerted effort on both sides that this relationship is built on a non-partisan basis, thus keeping the opposition in both countries informed of all developments. Ranil’s visit to Delhi last week and CBK’s meeting with Ranil on the eve of her departure took place only in this context.

  Veteran journalist PK Balachanddran of The Hindustan Times  has quoted a list of landmark events which signal a new era in the Indo –Lanka relations “A Joint Commission was set up in July 1991. In March 1995, President Kumaratunga addressed the chambers of commerce and industry in New Delhi. In 1997 came the agreement on promotion and protection of investments. To cap it all, there was the Free Trade Agreement in 1998. There is a move towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The Wickremesinghe government started giving Indians visas on arrival unilaterally. India adopted an open skies policy following his October 2003 visit to New Delhi.”

  The bogey of a Tamil Nadu factor dictating India’s Sri Lankan policy has decisively receded into oblivion. Tamil Nadu Politics has come a long way since the sixties seventies and eighties, when there was an element of secessionist tendency, and an emotional attachment for their brethren in Sri Lanka played a part in their electioneering. Now both the main parties, the DMK and the AIDMK, have National ambitions and begin to play an active role in the union government.  The Congress Party in the Tamil Nadu, which have nearly a third of the vote bank, and the organised left Parties in the Tamil Nadu have always operated as National Parties.  Following the assassination of the young and charismatic leader Rajiv Ghandhi it is impossible to sustain any support for the Sri Lankan Tamil cause in any part of India as long as it is dominated by the assassins (LTTE). So one cannot blame pragmatic Tamil Nadu leaders when they turn a blind eye and stop with simply issuing formal statements as and when needed.

  Where does this leave the Sri Lankan Tamil issue?  Tamils are rather like a spoilt child seeking attention by indulging in unorthodox tantrums. On the one hand the LTTE has been sabre- rattling for the last two years of waging a war, and on the other hand it is crawling on its belly to the Europeans, Indians and Americans to lift the ban on them.  It has become abundantly clear that the LTTE is not in a position to wage or sustain a conventional war with the Sri Lankan Army. The main component of their war will be suicide attacks on selected targets including its political opponents. In the present global tendency of war against terrorism that would be the end game for the LTTE.  The LTTE is fully aware of this and it is hard to believe that they will put themselves into that position. The only ways they can show their ‘potency’ is by continuing to kill political opponents and their innocent supporters. This will hurt no one except those who were killed. It is a bizarre situation, killings are continuing unabated but the LTTE is rewarded for not upsetting the Sri Lankan political status quo. The role of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM), in covering up these murders and the moral cowardice of those perpetuating the sanctity of this peace process, is breathtaking.

  Tamil issue have become almost irrelevant other than in the context of the global agenda of containing terrorism.  Thanks to LTTE leader’s single minded pursuit to achieve this status. We being the spoilt child, attempt to give undue importance by imagining that the Indo- Lanka relations and the subsequent regional political process revolve around the Tamil issue. We argue about the Defence Pact that is being discussed between the two countries and passing comments on it as if our views have any consequence. We do not even know what the contents are in this proposed pact.

  We know from past record that India does not need a pact with anybody to contain any LTTE excesses in India. In the past India have sunk a LTTE ship with one of their top leaders in it. It imprisoned Mr. Gopalaswamy for almost a year when he was an elected MP and it is said to have supplied vital information and provided logistical support for the Sri Lankan Navy to intercept LTTE ships in high seas. What did the LTTE do? Nothing. The LTTE is neither foolish nor has the guts to engage India. The message is clear, if the LTTE is wrong footed then it has to face the consequences.

The Tamil-speaking people of Sri Lanka are isolated and they have become voiceless. After the last parliamentary election, elected Tamil MPs have become a laughing stock, some of them were even denied visas to visit western countries and one of them was even deported from India.  This is the first time that such humiliation has been inflicted on elected MPs. Tamil society is in a pathetic state to put up with such insults. They have been caught between a Sri Lankan government, which is not prepared to address the core issue of Tamil autonomy, and the LTTE, who are unable to gain recognition from anybody (except the Norwegians), but still claim to represent the Tamils.  It is very convenient for any Sri Lankan Government to use the LTTE as an excuse for not seriously considering devolution of powers to the Tamil region, otherwise SLG would have taken serious steps to implement some form of devolution while waiting for the LTTE. In this context there are genuine Tamil anxieties, which are not likely to be addressed in this important meeting. Both India and Sri Lanka are expected to offer reassurance that they are for the resumption of the peace talks. In other words they will put the ball in the LTTE’s court.

  Observers believe that the Defence pact is more likely to deal with the long term strategic objectives of this region rather than focusing on any single irritant.  The broader parameter that brings together India and Sri Lanka is the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Tamil aspirations for reasonable autonomy has to wait until the LTTE transform itself into an organisation with common sense or an alternative pragmatic Tamil democratic leadership emerge and assert itself.

Balasingam’s confusion  

29.10.2004

According to a pro LTTE website LTTE’s theoretician and godfather Mr. Balasingam, denied the existence of the Oslo declaration and describes it as a ‘record of decisions’.  He states, “… there was not any specific proclamation titled the ‘Oslo Declaration’. The decision to explore federalism was included in the record of decisions at the Oslo talks and signed by the chief negotiators of both delegations and the head of the Norwegian facilitating team.”

He further confuses this by contesting the contents of that ‘record of decisions” by saying  “The Liberation Tigers’ decision to explore federalism on the principle of internal self-determination, as a solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, does not entail an unconditional abandonment of the Tamils’ right to external self-determination and secession”

He goes on to argue that the perception that the LTTE has abandoned the struggle for secession is not valid because Oslo decisions were made in conjunction with Mr. Pirabhakaran’s speech made on 27^th of November 2002. Those who saw the copy of the Oslo declaration and Mr.Balasingam know that there is not a single reference to Pirabhakaran or his speech in that declaration.

Let us now see exactly what the Oslo statement says. The Royal Norwegian government in a statement on 5^th of December 2002 stated as follows

 “The third session of peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was held in Oslo, Norway on 2 to 5 December 2002. In a frank, open and constructive manner, the parties focused on three major areas:
- Consolidation of the ceasefire
- Humanitarian and rehabilitation action
- Political matters

The parties agreed on a working outline defining the objective as well as a number of substantive political issues for negotiation.

Responding to a proposal by the leadership of the LTTE, the parties agreed to explore a solution founded on the principle of internal self-determination in areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples, based on a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka. The parties acknowledged that the solution has to be acceptable to all communities.”

It also further states that: