Sri Lanka bans LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 17:01 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has proscribed the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), one year after it unilaterally withdrew from the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with the Tigers. The LTTE was banned in 1998, for the first time before Colombo embarked on the futile military exercise of 'Operation Jayasikurui' (Victory Assured) on Vanni mainland. Colombo had to lift the ban in 2002 before entering into the CFA agreement with the Tigers.

The decision to ban the LTTE was taken at the cabinet meeting held Wednesday with President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the chair, said Maithiripala Sirisena, a senior minister and the general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), who made the announcement at a press briefing held later in the day.

The SLFP is the major constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government.

The Liberation Tigers, before entering into the CFA in 2002, have repeatedly stated that they will not engage in political negotiations as a proscribed movement, a stance which was supported by popular Tamil sentiment.

Related Articles:
03.01.08   Sri Lanka withdraws from CFA
05.09.02   Sri Lanka's Defence Minister de-proscribes LTTE
21.03.98   LTTE's proscription gazetted