European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 20, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Clise enl a Point where he insurgents Are in vital control of the it Are tamil heartland in Northern Jaffna Peninsula and have Tho Security forces in something of a standoff in Eastern Fol province. Ii has been a familiar Story according to diplomats Youthful insurgents resort to the terrorists tactics of bombs ambushes and assassinations. A poorly trained ill equipped and undermanned military responds with often indiscriminate attacks and arrests that catch a few of their foes but Many More bystanders. In the last three years the number of guerrilla cadres has grown from 500 to Between 5.000 and 7.000." said a Diplomat. With every atrocity against tamils you create new recruits and thai is just what happened these past three years " most of the guerrillas now belong to the liberation tigers of tamil eelam after a bitter internal fight that wiped out other Large guerrilla units although their rhetoric is revolutionary Independent observers say theirs is a Fervour fired by perceived factional grievances and. So far has Only vaguely leftist economic or political overtones. While India officially denies involvement it is known that Sanctuary and support in India s state of tamil Nadu have played a major role in the guerrillas Success. The liberation tigers openly collect taxes in Allna Ching to support efforts and run a rudimentary system of local to ut2 Maksout Dian and Justice for Ordinary Law and order offences according to reports from the area those suspected of betraying the tamil cause Are sometimes found hanging from lampposts. The army presence in the Jaffna area is limited to heavily barricaded bases and occasional armed patrols a defensive posture reinforced by the apparent failure of a recent offensive to dislodge the tamil units. While its limited offensive in the Jaffna area met with Only marginal Success the sri lankan army is generally credited with a growing professionalism As it struggles to absorb new recruits and adapt to More modern equipment. Some of the training is done by veterans of British special forces according to a diplomatic source. It is in the Eastern province that the Battle has taken its sharpest turn. Jaffna and Northern province Are overwhelmingly tamil but Eastern province is almost equally divided among tamils. Sinhalese and moslem villages and neighbourhoods of each Community Are intermingled leading to an often explosive mix in recent months As tensions have erupted in open confrontation. It used to be just the tamils who were attacked or kidnapped but now it is both said a resident of Trincomalee. A few tamils disappear and then a few Days later some sinhalese. It goes on like thai tit Lor sri Lanka s ethnic divisions language Sinh Ala. An indo european Tongue 01 the into iranian group religion about 9 percent Are Bud drusts. 7 percent christians population or Lanka s to 6 milk i people include 11 6 or Lxi sinhalese origins Northern India about 500 by social at Ruchirek Highland sinhalese around the City of Kandy preserve to at tonal customs Low country sinhalese of the South and West coasts have been More receptive to social change language Tan a dravidian Tongue which is very Dilt Ferri from swi Haia religion about 90 percent Are hindu 10 percent christians population about 2 b Morf origin Southern Ira fat. Pott As Early As 200300 by social to Jotun in lankan Many Are m Crri service the Tarn. Who Nave Kved in the Pony educated Irrean tamil " North and East Tor Camunes. Had came starting in two to work on Access to British educator and British Tea estates around Kandy about x minion More rants five m Southern India a death squad killings in Al Salvador May average a Hall dozen a month. In 1981 they usually surpassed 1,000 a month. Meaningful change in Central America must reach far beyond election Laws and land Reform. At Issue Are customs some Barbaric by other standards that have gone unchanged and unchallenged for generations. Real change that is not sustained by pressure from the outside such As military or economic Aid could take years to achieve. The common perception of Central America especially Al Salvador is coloured As much by its past As it is by its present. In the Early 1980s, Al Salvador was a Nightmare. Bombs and machine gun fire Shook the capital almost every night and there were bodies in the streets almost every morning. Thousands were buried where they were found or in potters Fields As unknowns. People on the streets after curfew were shot on sight by Security forces. Hearses and station w ions from funeral Homes used to prowl the City at first Light to pick up As Many bodies As they could hoping for the business if family members could identify the victims. Armando Paz was out there too. They used to Call him death s Armando was a shy Little Guy maybe in his 20s, who reportedly carried in his pocket the death squad Bullet that killed his father. The human rights commission hired Armando to get to the bodies first and photograph their faces. The pictures were kept in big books in the commission offices for families of missing persons to Leaf through seeking information. One evening someone in a passing car threw a gasoline bomb on the Steps of a downtown government building the guards with machine guns fired into a crowd of Rush hour pedestrians wounding More than 30 people several fatally. Today the streets of san Salvador Are safer than those in Many american cities within the capital troop movements Are among the very few reminders that there is a War out there in the Countryside. Managua on the other hand looks More militarized than it did in the last Days of the War against Somoza. Meaningful change hat to reach beyond election Law and land Reform Here army training in Nicaragua. Up photo the stars and stripes Pago 15
