Sri Lanka Halts Offensive Against Tamil Guerrillas

The Sri Lankan government halted its offensive against Tamil rebels in the northern Jaffna Peninsula Wednesday and called for a political settlement to end the fighting, but a military chief warned that the offensive will resume if there is no progress toward peace.

“I have suspended operations,” said Gen. Cyril Ranatunga, the Sri Lankan army chief. “It is now a political process. We want to give peace a chance.”

Western diplomats in Colombo welcomed the end of the offensive, which triggered a dispute between Sri Lanka and its neighbor, India.

In New Delhi, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman reacted cautiously to the news that the military offensive had ended.

Indian Intervention

Meanwhile, informed sources in Colombo said that the Indian government has warned Sri Lanka to reduce land and air attacks on the guerrillas, who are fighting for a separate Tamil state.

But Ranatunga denied that military operations were halted by fears of military intervention by India, whose 55 million Tamils in southern Tamil Nadu state are linked by culture and language to the 2 million Tamils in Sri Lanka.

India angered Sri Lanka last week by going ahead with an air drop of food and medical supplies to Jaffna last week.

Foreign Minister A.C.S. Hameed said on Wednesday that India’s violation of Sri Lanka’s airspace last week shattered the long-standing “model relationship” between the two countries.

No Word on Talks

There was no immediate word on a resumption of Indian-mediated negotiations on a settlement in the civil war, which began in 1983.

More than 3,000 troops backed by aircraft mounted the offensive on May 26 and captured the rebel bastion of Vadamarachchi, in the northeast of the peninsula.

The army later carried out “limited operations” nearer Jaffna town despite objections from India, which said hundreds of Tamil civilians were killed in the main thrust and the Jaffna Tamils were near starvation.

Ranatunga said that in all, 32 troops and more than 100 rebels were killed. He said 46 civilians died.

The Tamil rebels, who are Hindus, seek a separate state, claiming that they have suffered years of discrimination from the majority Sinhalese, who are Buddhists.