By Xinhua,
Colombo : Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake said here Tuesday the government would never enter into any more cease-fire agreements with the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Wickramanayake said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had exploited cease-fire agreements with the government in the past.
“I will tell you one thing for sure. There will never be anymore cease-fire agreements in the future with the LTTE”, the prime minister said.
Wickramanayake’s government in January this year unilaterally withdrew from the February 2002 cease-fire.
The Norwegian backed cease-fire held until the end of 2005 when violence escalated. The new wave of violence in the island’s long drawn out separatist armed conflict has so far cost over 7,000 lives since December 2005.
The government holds that the rebels have used cease-fire periods to regather and rearm themselves to hit back at the government troops.
The government’s decision to withdraw from the cease-fire was part of its military thrust against the rebels. The military was successful in annexing the entire eastern province from rebel control.
Last week a provincial council election was held in the east as a demonstration of the government’s control over the rebels.