The government has refused to reopen the road. Analysts say this is because the military wants to recapture the LTTE-held southern part of the peninsula and doesn’t want to dismantle its substantial military buildup in the middle of the peninsula astride the highway.
The Supreme Court ruling demonstrates is the fragility of constitutional changes, even when underwritten by powerful international actors such as India.
A waste of time. That is the widely expressed characterisation of the two days of Norwegian facilitated talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers in Geneva over the weekend.
Even as the talks approached, the omens were not good. No agenda was agreed or even discussed ahead of the talks – though both sides were bluntly telling the media what they were going to talk about.
The 600,000 inhabitants of the Jaffna Peninsula, already buffeted by decades of conflict, are now facing food and fuel shortages as a result of a recent upsurge in fighting.
Negotiators representing the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government began arriving in Geneva this week ahead of Norwegian-brokered talks over the weekend. Both sides have sent large delegations. But no agenda has been agreed. And there is no goodwill either.
