Sri Lanka clears rebels from key harbour mouth

Colombo, Sep 4: Sri Lanka's government said it pushed Tamil Tiger rebels from the mouth of strategic Trincomalee harbour today, and that it would therefore halt its offensive.

The government recaptured the southern edge of the harbour after days of artillery battles for control of the area called Sampur.

The rebels had been able to shell a major naval base and disrupt a maritime supply route to the besieged army-held Jaffna peninsula to the north from their positions in Sampur.

''We are in total control,'' said Keheliya Rambukwella, a government defence spokesman and minister for policy planning.

''Thereafter, we will not continue with any offensive operations unless we are forced to as a result of enemy action.'' He said the entire harbour mouth, which had included several Sea Tiger bases, was now in government hands.

The Tigers said they were still fighting troops with mortar bombs and small arms fire in Sampur's suburbs, and accused the government of trying to destroy what is left of a 2002 truce that still technically holds on paper.

''This is a severe breach of the ceasefire agreement with the Sri Lankan military taking LTTE-controlled areas,'' S Puleedevan, head of the rebels' peace secretariat, said via telephone from the Tigers' northern stronghold of Kilinochchi.

''They are not honouring the ceasefire agreement. They are forcing it to the brink of collapse,'' he added. ''On our side we are fully committed to it.'' Analysts fear the Tigers might launch attacks elsewhere in retaliation.

Hundreds of troops, rebels and civilians have been killed and more than 200,000 people displaced during more than a month of renewed civil war.

By Yesterday, at least 14 soldiers had been killed and 92 wounded since the Sampur offensive began a week earlier. The army estimates around 120 rebels were killed there by the weekend.

There were no details of any new casualties during today's advance.

Analysts said the Tigers appeared to have pulled out of Sampur, a tiny settlement containing a handful of rough houses and shops, a Sea Tiger memorial and an LTTE political office. Most of the civilian population had already fled south. ''It looks as though the LTTE pulled out without any direct confrontation because of the artillery fire from the armed forces,'' said Jane's Defence Weekly analyst Iqbal Athas.

Rebel Aid Freeze

Today's push came after the Central Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit said it had frozen bank accounts belonging to the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), effectively the rebels' humanitarian wing, amid a probe into whether aid money is being given to the rebels for weapons.

The TRO said 750,000 dolars of its funds had been frozen, money it said was intended mainly for post-tsunami aid projects.

''The Central Bank's actions will lead to futher deprivation and suffering for the tsunami and war-affected populations of the northeast,'' the group said in a statement. ''The people of the northeast will again be denied much needed relief, rehabilitation and development.'' ''The current humanitarian situation in the northeast of Srilanka is reaching a critical stage,'' it added.

Aid workers say the government is hampering access to Tiger-held territory, and obstructing their operations by insisting staff obtain special work permits to go to the north and east.

''I think the idea is try and stop aid reaching LTTE areas,'' said an aid worker on condition of anonymity.

Reuters

Related Stories

'Rebel-held Sampur falls to Sri Lanka military'
In Focus: Sri Lanka Crisis