For much of the last 20 years Sri Lanka has had fighting between the armed forces of the predominantly Sinhalese government and Tamil Tiger rebels who want independence in the north and east. The New Year gloom got worse when the government announced that it was officially withdrawing from the Norwegian-brokered 2002 ceasefire agreement. With about 5,000 people killed in the last two years, the ceasefire was nothing more than a piece of paper. "The Sri Lankan government will intensify and expedite its war preparations," says Sri Lankan analyst DBS Jeyaraj. It has been predicted, "2008 will be the year of war for Sri Lanka". The increase of violence since January first supports this fear. Scores of Tamil rebels and soldiers have been reported killed in heavy fighting in recent days. There have been battles even at sea.
A government minister was killed this Tuesday near the capital, Colombo. The government is sure it was the work of the Tigers. On Sunday the Tigers' intelligence chief, Col Charles, was killed in the north, only two months after SP Thamilselvan, the Tiger's political wing leader, was killed in an air raid in the north.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7176236.stm
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