| Further consultations required over lunch, of course. |
COLOMBO - The European Union is poised to formally ban Sri LankaÂ’s Tamil Tigers, diplomats say, amid fears a sharp escalation in attacks and clashes with the military could escalate into all-out war. The 25-nation bloc is expected to rubber-stamp the ban, which has been agreed in principle, at a meeting of EU Ministers later on Monday, following a series of deadly ambushes on the military, including the worst naval clash since a 2002 truce.
| Welp, thank goodness the EU has weighed in. That makes it all legal, nice and tidy. Next, we get the Belgians to prosecute all the war criminals, since they of course have jurisdiction ... |
The Tigers -- who want their de facto state in the north and east recognised as a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils -- have said the ban will only “exacerbate the conditions of war” and force them to take a more hardline approach.
| Thus causing the EU to reconsider ... |
They say it could deter them from resuming peace talks aimed at ending the islandÂ’s two-decade civil war. They pulled out of peace talks indefinitely last month.
“I don’t think the ban is going to achieve very much,” said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, an analyst with the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives. “I can’t see any way out of ... moving towards large-scale hostilities.” |