{"id":97357,"date":"2020-01-06T23:24:08","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T05:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97357"},"modified":"2020-01-06T15:56:33","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:56:33","slug":"eelam-war-series-10-the-ceasefire-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/06\/eelam-war-series-10-the-ceasefire-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"EELAM WAR SERIES 10. THE CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The Ceasefire Agreement\u201d (CFA) was signed on 22nd<\/sup>\nFebruary 2002  by Prime Minister Ranil\nWickramasinghe on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and by Velupillai\nPrabhakaran on behalf of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The\nAgreement prohibited fighting, on land, air or sea and the Eelam War ground to\na halt. But that was not all. The CFA gave the LTTE full control of the lands\nthey were holding at the time.  A large\nchunk of territory in the north east  \nincluding strategically important places \ncame into their hands. This territory was clearly set out  with \u2018lines of control\u2019.  The LTTE army was allowed to continue and the\nstate army was prohibited from going anywhere near them. A \u2018zone of separation\u2019\nwas set between the LTTE and the \u2018government controlled\u2019 lands. CFA also called\nfor the disarming of all groups opposing the LTTE.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CFA was supervised by a Sri Lanka Monitoring\nMission (SLMM). The SLMM consisted of representatives from Scandinavian\n(Nordic) countries. The Head of SLMM was appointed by the government of Norway.\nThe Head was the final authority regarding interpretation of the CFA. India and\nNATO supported the SLMM.  SLMM had\noffices in Colombo, Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and\nAmpara districts. SLMM was to be given data on the defence localities in all disputed\nareas. It had immediate access to trouble spots. The government and the LTTE\nwere to cooperate fully with the SLMM. However, when the Sri Lanka navy spotted\na LTTE ship carrying arms the SLMM officers on board the navy patrol boat\nwarned the LTTE  and the LTTE ship escaped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gomin Dayasiri said the CFA was a home made cake,\nbaked by local cooks using local ingredients.  \nIt was not rammed down Sri Lanka\u2019s throat.  Norwegian Foreign minister Eric Solheim had\nheld discussions with Anton Balasingham in London and with   G.L. Pieris and others in Sri Lanka. Pieris was the chief negotiator for the government.\nOthers who played key roles in the matter included Minister Milinda Moragoda,\nDefense secretary Austin Fernando and Bradman Weerakoon. The government had\nagreed to conditions made by Norway and LTTE, but Norway and LTTE had refused\nto consider government conditions. Norway and LTTE had reached agreement on the\nCFA by the first week of Dec 2001. Indian\nofficials also had met secretly with LTTE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Gooneratne stated that the CFA went through\nseveral drafts.  Prime Minster Ranil Wickramasinghe and Pieris reviewed these drafts and\napproved the final document. \u2018We\nwent into it with our eyes open.\u2019  The\nCFA was signed secretly with only few persons knowing about it. The President and Cabinet were not told the terms and\nconditions. Those who protested against the agreement were branded traitors.\nThe CFA was abrogated by President Mahinda Rajapakse on 16.1.2008. The original\ndocument is now declared missing from the Prime Minster\u2019s office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CFA was    strongly condemned as an appalling act of\ntreachery and betrayal. Critics said that \u2018even thinking of such an agreement\nwas a disgrace\u2019.  The CFA equated the\nLTTE army with the legally constituted state army  and gave LTTE equal status with the\ngovernment of Sri Lanka.  Critics noted\nthat no country in the world has given equal status to a terrorist outfit in\nthis manner.  Further, the CFA gave LTTE\nfull control over the land, air and the sea of \u2018their\u2019 territory. Observers\nnoted that by doing so, the government had ceded   sovereignty to the LTTE. The LTTE would have\nused this to announce a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). The west\nwould have promptly recognized the new state of Eelam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the CFA, LTTE now became legitimate. It set up a de facto state. \u2018Ceasefire lines\u2019 were\nconverted into state borders. Customs and immigration posts were set up. There\nwere 17 checkpoints.  Place names were in\nTamil and English. The LTTE set up LTTE   law courts and LTTE police.  This \u2018police\u2019 arrested Sri Lanka policemen\nwhen they entered the area. Twelve \u2018Thamileelam policemen\u2019 went to Northern\nIreland for three month training. The government issued them passports.\nSophisticated hi-tech communications equipment was obtained and LTTE   set up a high powered broadcasting and TV\nstation which could broadcast all over the world.    LTTE delegations visited Europe. LTTE    \nstrengthened its defenses  and\nestablished camps in strategic areas. Fourteen camps were set up south of\nKoddiyar bay in Trincomalee.  122 heavy\nartillery guns and 120 mortars were placed within striking distance of the\nharbour. A journalist who exposed this and other LTTE build-ups was forced to discontinue\nhis column.  SLAF spotted the Iranamadu\nrunway  when it was  at an initial stage of construction They saw\nlight aircraft on the runway but the CFA prevented them from taking action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CFA was decided without consulting the armed\nforces. This was most unusual and had no parallel in the world. The army and\nnavy chiefs were allowed to see the CFA only a few days before the signing,\nafter the matter had been finalized. \nThey had requested an audience as they were concerned. They were not\nallowed to take away copies of the CFA. The defense\nforces were   aghast  when they finally saw the agreement. They had been pounding the LTTE successfully and Jaffna\nwas under them. CFA put a stop to this. The armed forces had no say on\nsecurity. Instead CFA wanted the High Security Zone reduced in size and army\ncamps decreased from 152 to 88 in Jaffna.  LTTE also wanted air\nreconnaissance   and  \ndeep penetration unit operations stopped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The army was confined\nto barracks    while the LTTE were free\nto do whatever they wished. LTTE\nmocked the soldiers in camp, urinating and showing backsides. The army felt\nhumiliated. The armed forces could not\nretaliate even on the gravest provocation. \nWhen confrontations arose government ordered the armed forces to\nretreat. The navy once intercepted a LTTE\nlogistical movement at sea. There was a fierce confrontation and the government\nordered the navy to pull back. The navy was furious. They had lost men. Army camps came under attack, but army was not allowed\nto retaliate either. The CFA said unarmed security convoys could go on the A9\nroad.  Army remarked that only a fool\nwould send unarmed convoys through LTTE infested jungles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CFA prohibited\nsearch operations and arrests under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Arrests\nwere to be made according to the Criminal Procedure Code. The government\nreleased all LTTE prisoners over 1000 of them and made no arrests under  the Prevention\nof Terrorism act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LTTE received their largest consignments of arms\nand ammunition, during the CFA. Massive quantities  arrived in  \n13 consignments.  Karuna said \u2018we\nunloaded ammunition 40 days after the CFA was signed\u2019. The government did\nnothing to stop this. There was no customs inspection. One consignment of\neleven containers went without inspection to Kilinochchi. Had the LTTE succeeded in getting more   equipment, such as SA-18 surface to air\nmissiles, the war would have taken a different turn, critics said.  The LTTE\nstrengthened its army. People were forcibly recruited  and put into training camps. Within one and half years LTTE had trained 6000 new\ncadres  LTTE also created a rudimentary \u2018air force\u2019 of\nlight planes, able to bomb government areas without being shot down. Sri Lanka Air Force had spotted two fixed wing aircraft at Iranamadu but could not bomb\nthem because of CFA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LTTE upgraded its navy. They obtained powerful,\nhigh tech boats. These came into Colombo harbor in\ncontainers.  LTTE also acquired equipment\nthat could cripple the state navy, such as underwater fighting craft\n(submersibles). Experts in sea warfare came in to train the LTTE cadres. The\ngovernment had allowed foreigners unhindered access to the LTTE held territory. Ukrainian specialists trained Sea Tigers in underwater\nfighting skills. Japanese showed how to launch\nsubmersibles. In time, these submersibles would have put a stop to the\nTrinco-KKS supply route.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LTTE ships could now\nmove freely along the coast up to Vadamarachchi.  They used this to launch boats and stealth\ncraft laden with explosives.  They     carried out naval exercises. The Sri Lanka\nNavy objected,  but had to stay away.\nLTTE   also asked for a special sea lane\nfor their ships, 200 nautical miles off the north- east shore. The navy\nobjected strongly to this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CFA gave LTTE had freedom of movement in\ngovernment areas while preventing non-LTTE persons from entering LTTE\ncontrolled areas. LTTE could enter\ngovernment held territory, unarmed, \u2018to visit family and friends.\u2019 The LTTE\nused this to fan out to all parts of country. They infiltrated the hill country\nand established cells. They infiltrated Colombo,  sent in suicide cadres    set up safe houses    and created sleeper cells. They systematically killed key operatives and\ninformants of the armed forces. They were permitted political work, so they set\nup political offices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018CFA activities\u2019 were closely watched by those\nwho opposed Eelam.  They noted that on 27.11.2002 a container with sophisticated communication equipment left\nColombo, escorted by a police inspector in a Defender jeep, crossed the\nOmanthai security checkpoint and moved into LTTE controlled territory without\nany checking. They also noted that several container loads of weapons has been\npassed by the BOI and transported to LTTE territory in BOI vehicles. They\nreported that according to the official count, LTTE had violated the CFA 5461\ntimes  and the government had done\nnothing about it. Inspector Dale Gunaratne, President of the Police Inspectors\nAssociation strongly criticized the government for allowing the LTTE to use the\nCFA to its advantage.   The Federation of\nBuddhist Organizations called the CFA an \u2018agreement signed by two puppets at\nthe hands of a gang of international looters. They welcomed its abrogation.  ( CONCLUDED)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Ceasefire Agreement\u201d (CFA) was signed on 22nd February 2002  by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and by Velupillai Prabhakaran on behalf of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Agreement prohibited fighting, on land, air or sea and the Eelam War ground to a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}