smh.com.au February 18, 2012
In May 2009, hell was a strip of sand on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka where a surrounding government army was raining shells, bullets and bombs on a cut-off rebel army, the Tamil Tigers, and thousands of trapped civilians.
In May 2009, hell was a strip of sand on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka where a surrounding government army was raining shells, bullets and bombs on a cut-off rebel army, the Tamil Tigers, and thousands of trapped civilians.As the end came near, three Tiger leaders tried to save themselves and their families, arranging a surrender in mobile phone calls and text messages involving the government's foreign secretary in the capital Colombo, Norwegian diplomats, a British journalist and others.
They were told to advance across to government lines in a non-threatening manner, raising their hands, and bearing a white cloth.
Later the next day, government troops found the bodies of Balasingham Nadesan, Seevaratnam Pulidevan and Ramesh, along with those of several family members, lying in the former no-man's land, riddled with bullets. An unfortunate accident, understandable in the chaos of battle, the government said.
Coming up to three years later, as tourists flock back to Sri Lanka's beaches, temples and tea country and his government still basks in the glow of ending a 25-year separatist insurgency, the incident is returning to haunt the President, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/us-keeps-sharp-focus-on-tiger-killings-20120217-1te99.html#ixzz1meZJt181