US promises aid against Tamil Tigers

As the four-year-old ceasefire in Sri Lanka is on the verge of crumbling, the US has offered to strengthen its military assistance programs and increase training for government forces if the country's rebel group resumes its separatist war in the northern and eastern provinces. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been declared a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department, has been accused of several recent attacks on Sri Lankan troops even while a Norwegian-monitored ceasefire is on. The rebel group has been fighting for a separate Tamil nation state in the politically-troubled northern and eastern provinces. Addressing a meeting in Colombo last week, US Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead used "blunt language" to warn the LTTE that the cost of return to war will be high. "If the LTTE chooses to abandon peace, however, we want it to be clear, they will face a stronger, more capable and more determined Sri Lankan military," he added. He also said that US military assistance "is not given because we anticipate or hope for a return to hostilities." After meeting with senior officials in Washington last week, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the LTTE will continue to remain a designated "foreign terrorist organization" (FTO) in the United States despite intense lobbying by Sri Lankan Tamil expatriate groups to overturn the politically-unpleasant designation. The US list includes over 40 FTOs–ranging from Peru's Shining Path and the New People's Army in the Philippines to the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey and the LTTE in Sri Lanka. A designated FTO may be dropped from the list after a biennial review of its actions, or in the alternative, the designation may be continued. The designation of the LTTE as a FTO means firstly, that it is illegal for anyone in the United States to provide any financial support to these groups; secondly, that US institutions may block funds of FTOs and their agents; and thirdly, FTO representatives could be denied entry visas to the United States. The continued designation of the LTTE as an FTO puts it pretty much on a tight leash in the United States–although funds have been transferred either as "charitable contributions" to LTTE-front organizations in Sri Lanka or for post-tsunami reconstruction. The United States is also sending Nicholas Burns, under-secretary of state for political affairs, to get a first-hand view of the ground situation in Sri Lanka–particularly in the north and the east.