Sri Lanka: Time for International Action On 8 January 2008, the Sri Lankan Minister for Nation Building, DM Dassanayake was killed when his convoy was hit by a powerful roadside bomb blast allegedly planted by Liberation Tigers of Tami Eelam (LTTE) near the capital, Colombo. This killing follows the killing of LTTE%u2019s Political wing chief S P Tamilselvam and Intelligence wing chief "Colonel" Charles by the Sri Lankan security forces.
These deaths bring Sri Lanka%u2019s escalating conflict into sharp focus. On 2 January 2008, the government of Sri Lanka formally withdrew from the Norwegian brokered Cease Fire Agreement (CFA). Norway expressed concern that the Sri Lankan move was a %u201Cserious step%u201D which would further escalate the violence in the island nation. On 3 January 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regretted Sri Lankan government%u2019s decision to terminate the CFA. He urged %u201Call concerned to ensure the protection of civilians and enable humanitarian assistance to be provided to affected areas and underlined the urgent need to end the bloodshed in Sri Lanka through a political solution.%u201D The European Union, the United States, Japan and Canada also expressed deep concerns over the decision.
The CFA ceased to function long ago. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), responsible for monitoring compliance of the CFA, has been unable to issue rulings on violations since July 2006. Despite this the CFA has provided a comfortable illusion for the international commu
