'Tamils are still terrorists'
2003-10-03 13:35
Colombo, Sri Lanka - The United States has re-designated the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organisation, the US Embassy said on Friday, despite an ongoing peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the rebels.
The guerrillas said they regretted that the move was made at a critical time in the peace process.
"Although the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam are engaged in a peace process with the government of Sri Lanka... the United States has determined that the LTT continues to engage in terrorist activities," the embassy said, quoting US State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher in Washington.
"The United States therefore today re-designated the LTT as a foreign terrorist organisation," the embassy said in Colombo, capital of a country that has endured 20 years of civil war. Norwegian-brokered peace talks began in 2002, but the Tamil Tigers have refused to meet with the government since April.
"We view the US decision with great regret," said Sudha Thangan, the rebels' deputy political head in Kilinochchi, the Tamil Tigers' headquarters town in northern Sri Lanka. "We are at a critical time when efforts are being made to take the peace process forward."
It was not immediately clear what difference the US announcement would make to the Tamil Tigers, although it will be a setback for them. The rebel group had hoped that the US government would not include it on a list of foreign terrorist organisations this year.
"We would like the US to realise the positive steps that are being taken. Although the talks have been suspended, the process is intact," Thangan told a ceremony to open a rehabilitation centre for child soldiers released by the Tigers.
Tamil Tiger rebels are outlawed in five countries, including the United States, which first banned the group in 1997. India outlawed the group after Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in 1991.
Tamil Tiger officials are barred from entering the countries where the group is banned, and prohibited from collecting funds or engaging in propaganda activities.
The rebels began fighting the Sri Lankan government in 1983 to create a separate state for minority Tamils of this island nation off India's southern tip.
About 65 000 people were killed in the fighting before a cease-fire was signed by the rebels and the government in February 2002. Peace talks began last October during which the rebels agreed to limited autonomy instead of total independence.
However, talks were stalled in April when the rebels walked out, accusing the government of not doing enough to rehabilitate Tamils displaced in the war. They have not resumed fighting but the Tigers are accused of political killings, abductions and extortion.
Washington warned the rebels last month to abandon terrorism, make realistic demands and resume talks with the government.
The Tigers have refused to begin talks unless they are given wide administrative and financial powers to govern the Tamil-majority northeast.
- AP