Word: lankan
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Tiger Leader Velupillai Prabakaran, 32, caused problems from the beginning. Although the Sri Lankan army promptly returned to the barracks under the terms of the pact, the Tigers kept the bulk of their weapons and used them to deadly effect. Within six weeks of the pact's signing, Prabakaran's forces had murdered more than 150 members of rival Tamil groups. Last month, using his arms as a bargaining chip, Prabakaran won a major concession from the Sri Lankan government in Colombo: the Tigers were given control of a majority of seats on the interim council. But after promising "full...
Meanwhile, 13 Tiger guerrillas, including three of Prabakaran's most trusted lieutenants, committed suicide by swallowing cyanide following their capture by the Sri Lankan navy two weeks ago. According to a Sri Lankan official, the deaths made Prabakaran "lose control" of himself. In a series of terrorist attacks, mainly in the east, the Tigers killed 170 civilians belonging to the country's Sinhalese majority. In addition, 27 Sri Lankan soldiers and policemen died at the hands of the rebels...
...appealed to Gandhi for a cease-fire to "negotiate matters." Gandhi, however, has apparently stopped listening. Instead, he sent some 1,000 Indian reinforcements to the island in preparation for a final assault. Prabakaran and his men showed every sign of resisting to the end. But as one Sri Lankan intelligence officer observed with much satisfaction, it will be "only a matter of time before the Indians smash...
...agreement forged by New Delhi and Colombo in July to end Sri Lanka's four- year civil war was badly mauled last week as the separatist guerrillas known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam went on a rampage. The Tigers butchered at least 170 civilians and 27 Sri Lankan soldiers and policemen after 13 of their members in Colombo's hands committed suicide with cyanide pills. The deceased rebels were among 17 guerrillas captured by the Sri Lankan navy last week for allegedly smuggling arms and ammunition into the country by trawler from India...
...Sinhalese majority, however, remains bitterly opposed to the accord. There is widespread anger that the Sri Lankan government has granted far too many concessions to the Tamils. Even after the assassination attempt, a few Sinhalese thought poorly of Jayewardene and his hand in the accord. "He sold the sovereignty of our country," said one Sinhalese student. "The only way to get it back is to get rid of him." Soon after the attack, a previously unknown Sinhalese group, called the Patriotic People's Movement, claimed responsibility, but the killers had immediately fled the scene. By week's end, no arrests...