Sri Lankan officials have announced their withdrawal from a 2002 cease-fire agreement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the principal Tamil national liberation force in the armed struggle against the Sinhalese-dominated government. Norway will terminate its Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission and likely end its role as the broker between the two parties.
Analysts expect the government’s decision to end the cease-fire to lead to an increase in violence. Sinhalese hard-liners are calling for reinstating the ban on the LTTE, which President Mahinda Rajapaksa already threatened to do.
Despite the cease-fire, the Rajapaksa administration has overseen increased military efforts against the Tamil population.
