Sri Lanka- How to solve the conflict?

Whats the best way to solve this 25-26 year old horrific conflict?

BanIndia

and make sure their actions are sorted out before they reach first class level

S Lankans(and south Indians) that i have met in person have come across as some of the nicest people on the face of the planet and i really don't think that they deserve to go through this mess.

A blast yesterday killed 52 civilians in a hospital.

They were celebrating getting the ICCCT?

taipan wrote:They were celebrating getting the ICCCT?

thats not nice and certainly not funny...

PlanetPakistan wrote:

taipan wrote:They were celebrating getting the ICCCT?

thats not nice and certainly not funny...

Wasn't meant to be.

Was pointing out the stupidity of moving it to SL.

agree...not nice taips...mumu as a Tamil could play a key role in resolving the conflict...the Tamils have been poorly treated and have some justice to their cause...tho the tactics of the Tigers both stoopid and cruel.

Here's an idea. It's way out of left field and occasionally hasn't worked perfectly but if you're looking for alternatives.

Hold free and fair elections.

Not easy to implement in a country that's already decried the umpire's decision previously but worth a go perhaps.

Ballots do cost more to produce than bullets but in the long run saves a shitload in bodybags.

Nuke 'em.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – More than 15,000 civilians have fled Sri Lanka's northern war zone over the last three days, an official said Sunday, as government forces appeared poised to crush the separatist Tamil Tigers.

Meanwhile, attacks in the north killed at least 21 rebels over the weekend, according to the military.

The military's relentless offensive in recent months has almost routed the rebels, virtually ending their 25-year war for a separate Tamil nation in the Sinhalese-majority country.

But the United Nations and aid agencies have expressed concern for the estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in the shrinking sliver of land still controlled by the Tigers. International organizations including the Red Cross have urged both sides to let the noncombatants out of the conflict zone.

"So far on Sunday, 4,600 civilians have come to the government areas," military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

He said 5,600 fled the war zone on Saturday while another 5,000 crossed over Friday, bringing the total for the three days to 15,200.

The government accuses the rebels of holding civilians as human shields, a charge the rebels deny.

The Red Cross said Saturday that some 400 patients are also stranded in a makeshift hospital in the north. It urged both sides to allow them to be evacuated.

Warnings from the United Nations on Friday of a looming food crisis in the conflict zone added to the plight of civilians trapped in the region. The group said that the World Food Program stocks in the area were gone.

Sri Lanka barred nearly all aid groups from the war zone last year. It does also not allow in journalists, making independent verification of the situation impossible.

Heavy fighting continued Sunday, with the navy destroying two rebel boats 10 miles (16 kilometers) off the northeastern coast, killing at least six insurgents, navy spokesman Capt. D.K.P Dassanayake said.

On Saturday, army troops foiled a rebel attempt to breach the government forces' defense line near the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu in the north, killing at least 15 insurgents, a military statement said.

Separately, air force jets bombed a series of rebel positions Saturday, including an artillery gun, the military said.

The rebels could not be reached for comment because communications to rebel-held territory have been severed.

Some 70,000 people have died in Sri Lanka's civil war, which began in 1983 after years of marginalization of Tamils by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority.

caused to the building of the Sri Lankan Inland Revenue Department …

* Sri Lanka Unrest Slideshow:Sri Lanka Unrest

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A top United Nations humanitarian official condemned a kamikaze rebel attack on Sri Lanka's capital, and urged government forces and the Tamil Tigers Saturday to avoid a "final bloodbath" in a conflict that has already claimed too many civilian casualties.

The surprise suicide plane attacks in Colombo late Friday left four people dead, including two rebel pilots, and embarrassed the government, which only two weeks ago claimed it had effectively grounded the Tamil Tigers' small force of light aircraft by seizing all rebel airstrips.

The attacks also signaled the Tigers are not ready to give up their 25-year fight for an independent state for minority Tamils.

The military has vowed to crush the group and end the civil war soon. Government forces have driven the rebels out of much of their de facto northern state in recent months and trapped them in a tiny sliver of land along the northeast coast along with tens of thousands of Tamil civilians.

Estimates indicating a high number of civilian casualties in the conflict have forced international observers to speak out. Human Rights Watch said Friday some 2,000 noncombatants had been killed and accused both sides of war crimes, calling on them to immediately stop "the ongoing slaughter of civilians."

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said Saturday the U.N. was afraid for the civilians trapped in the shrinking war zone.

"I fear the reality is that significant numbers of people are still killed and injured every day in that pocket," Holmes said Saturday at the end of a three-day trip to Sri Lanka.

Holmes, who met top government officials and visited displacement camps south of the fighting, said not enough food and other aid was reaching the trapped civilians, and he raised concerns about the heavy military presence at the camps for the more than 30,000 civilians who have fled the war zone.

He promised the U.N. would send $10 million in emergency aid for food, medicine, shelter and other necessities for the displaced civilians, and urged both sides to ensure an orderly end to the conflict.

"What we need to avoid is a final bloodbath, if you like, at the end of this process that could be dreadful for the civilian population as well as for the future (of the country)," Holmes said.

The government has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in the fighting and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said its policy was to ensure civilian safety.

Holmes denounced the Tamil Tigers' suicide plane attack and expressed condolences for the victims' families. At least 51 people were wounded in the attack.

Authorities pulled the wreckage of one plane out of a government high-rise office building near air force headquarters in the middle of Colombo. The second plane crashed near an air force base just outside the international airport north of the city.

The rebels said the pilots were on suicide missions targeting the air force installations, that they crashed intentionally and that the raid was a success, according to the rebel-affiliated TamilNet Web site.

Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara confirmed it was a suicide attack, but said anti-aircraft fire forced the planes to crash before they reached their targets.

The aircraft that crashed near the air force base was packed with 287 pounds (130 kilograms) of high explosives that did not detonate, he said. The other exploded after crashing into the tax office, though it was unclear what explosives were aboard, he said.

The Tamil rebels have launched several air attacks aimed at boosting morale and humiliating the government.

The latest raid showed the rebel movement "retains its capacity for surprise unconventional warfare," political analyst Jehan Perera said.

However, their willingness to sacrifice two precious aircraft from their tiny air force seemed desperate and could signal they were nearing the end of their fight.

"We knew they were desperate, we were expecting these kind of a suicide attacks ... and we were prepared," military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The rebels were believed to have three or four light aircraft, but Udaya Nanayakkara said he didn't believe the group had any more planes left.

Later Saturday, Tamil rebels stormed a village in eastern Sri Lanka, shooting and stabbing to death two ethnic Sinhalese farmers and wounding 15 others, Nanayakkara said.

Rebel officials could not be reached for comment.

The attack raised concerns that the rebels, who were driven from their eastern stronghold two years ago by the government, could still retain the ability to carry out deadly guerrilla attacks.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for independence since 1983 after decades of marginalization by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed.

As A Tamil Lankan who has witnessed and experienced most of the bloody civil war would like to see a swift end to it. Unfortunately I have to agree with the SL government on this and they are almost there on ending it once and for all. I have no sympathy along with most Tamils out there for the Tigers and they are only digging their graves even deeper by the recent actions. There will be a lot of civilian casualties but for the sake of future of the country this is the only way to sort out the mess. Peace talks will not work as seen in the past.