Sri Lankan gov't to withdraw from ceasefire with rebels

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-03 16:08

 


An army soldier stands guard at a road side checkpoint in Colombo January 3, 2008. [Agencies]
 

Both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE have been accused of blatant violations since the government came into force in February 22, 2002.

Analysts say the government's decision to pull out from the agreement signifies the current undeclared war will turn into all- out open hostilities.  

The government and the LTTE held eight direct talks after signing the ceasefire agreement, but failed to find a political solution to the island's long drawn-out ethnic conflict.

More than 5,000 people have been killed as the conflict between the government and the LTTE began to escalate in the end of 2005, making the Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement exist only on paper.

Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.

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