No Military Solution to Crisis in Sri Lanka – Britain

“'I wholeheartedly condemn these attacks upon civilians and those responsible. My thoughts and condolences are with the victims of the attacks, and their families.”

(February 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband while urging all in Sri Lanka to take steps to safeguard the civilian population and find ways to reduce the violence, called for a political process to end the conflict.

'The 60th anniversary of Sri Lankan independence is a time to reflect on the health and welfare of the nation and its people as it moves forward in the 21st century. The cycle of violence in Sri Lanka has worsened in recent weeks. Civilian lives have been lost from all communities and regions of Sri Lanka. The end of the formal 2002 cease-fire agreement does not remove the obligation of all parties to the conflict to protect civilian life,” he said in a statement.

According to Maliband, “'I wholeheartedly condemn these attacks upon civilians and those responsible. My thoughts and condolences are with the victims of the attacks, and their families. I call for an immediate end to practices which target civilians or put them in peril. I urge all in Sri Lanka to take steps to safeguard the civilian population and find ways to reduce the violence.”

``Violence can never provide an answer to Sri Lanka's problems,'' Miliband said in a statement posted on the Web site of the British High Commission in Colombo. ``A sustainable solution to the conflict can only emerge through a just political process involving all communities,'' he added.


However, according to official web site of the Government of Sri Lanka, “this call ( Foreign Secretary's comment) comes in the wake of escalating violence and a series of LTTE attacks deliberately targetting unarmed civilians, including school children. The LTTE, having been wiped out from the Eastern Province, are currently beseiged by the armed forces in the Vanni and the recent spate of attacks have been described as desparate tactics to provoke a backlash against Tamil civilians living in other parts of the country.”

“political analysts point out that while negotiation is the preferable mode of conflict resolution, the LTTE has been intransigent on this, having walked out of 'talks' on several occasions and having abused negotiating periods to re-arm and recruit and in other ways prepare to perpetrate further acts of terrorism,” it added.