Welcoming the British crackdown on the LTTE which was unexpected here, the Sri Lankan government asserted that the long overdue action would increase pressure the LTTE to return to the negotiating table.
The LTTE quit the Norwegian-led peace process in April 2003 during Ranil Wickremesinghe's tenure as the Premier.
Friday's arrest of LTTE leader in the UK 51-year A.C. Shanthan and 29-year Goldan Lambert, in charge of the vast finances network came hot on the heels of British High Commissioner in Colombo Dominick Chilcott assertion that "outsiders can help shape the political and security environment in which efforts to make peace or war are attempted." Both LTTE cadres hold British passports. Police also searched LTTE offices in London and Surrey.
In his key note address at a panel discussion arranged by the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS), Chilcott articulated the British policy vis a vis Sri Lanka's national issue
Government sources expressed the belief that the British action was significant and in fact a major policy shift. "We expect the British to conduct a sustained campaign against the LTTE," an authoritative official said. "What is significant is the British action comes at the end of British Premier Tony Blair's term."
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