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Sri Lanka offers Tigers amnesty on condition of surrender
The Sri Lankan government today offered an amnesty to Tamil Tiger rebels who surrender, but rejected international appeals for ceasefire talks and vowed to crush those who fight on. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told parliament that some rebels were ready to lay down their arms as they face imminent defeat in their decades-long battle for an independent ethnic Tamil homeland. "It is a wise decision and we are ready to welcome them," Wickremanayake said.The government, however, at the same time rejected international calls for negotiations to end the fighting, which has triggered global concern for the tens of thousands of civilians caught up in war. The United States, European Union, Japan and Norway asked the rebels to lay down their arms and take part in a political dialogue to end Sri Lanka's vicious unrest which has claimed an estimated 70,000 lives since 1972. But Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse told the Island newspaper that "Nothing could be as ridiculous as this." "Nothing short of unconditional surrender of arms and cadres could bring an end to the offensive," he said. According to the newspaper, Rajapakse believes Tiger leaders must be "tried and hanged" but low level rebel cadres could be "rehabilitated". Posted by: Fred 2009-02-06 |
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