SLA not disarming Tamil groups

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Tamil party sources in Jaffna said today that they see no indication of the SLA taking heed of the Sri Lankan elections Commissioner's announcement on Friday that all those contesting the local polls in the peninsula would be disarmed.

Mr. Dayananda Dissanayaka, the Elections Commissioner who met representatives of the Tamil groups contesting the polls at his office on Friday (January 9) informed them he would take immediate steps to disarm all those contestants and group members who are carrying weapons in Jaffna.

The commissioner's decision came in the wake of daily complaints about intimidation by armed cadres of the EPDP, particularly in the islands off Jaffna where the group works as an auxiliary military force under the Sri Lankan army.

SLA sources said it is highly unlikely that the army in Jaffna would try to disarm the armed groups, particularly the EPDP, at this juncture when there is a shortage of Sri Lankan troops in several parts of the peninsula.