Lanka’s Tamil Outfit Suggests Way to Seek Rebels Surrender
Volunteering a solution to rescue Tamil civilians trapped in the conflict between LTTE and the army, Sri Lanka’s top Tamil political force has appealed for a way letting Tiger rebels to surrender to a third party.
According to reports, The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), a pro-government party, urged President Mahinda Rajapakse to rope in an international agency to which LTTE guerrillas could hand over their weapons in exchange for an amnesty.
“I suggest that an international agency, acceptable to the government, be selected to visit (the rebel-held area of) Wanni and persuade the LTTE to allow the innocent people to go out freely,” TULF leader V. Anandasangari said.
He said that it should be supplemented by an offer of a general amnesty to those who surrender arms with a period of two weeks allowed for the process, warning, “If such an arrangement is not made to bring out the civilians safely, the whole thing will end up in a national disaster detrimental to the good name of the country.”
The organization came with the appeal as army is slated for a final offensive on a small patch of coastline into which the Tamil rebels are confined.
As per a United Nations estimate, some 50,000 people are also trapped by the fighting and risk getting killed. International calls for a truce to allow the civilians out have been rejected by Colombo.
