Canada blasts Sri Lanka for ending truce
OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier on Thursday blasted Sri Lanka for withdrawing from a 2002 ceasefire agreement with Tamil Tiger rebels.
"Canada deeply regrets the decision of the government of Sri Lanka to withdraw from the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement," Bernier said in a statement.
"Withdrawal from this important agreement will make the search for a durable political solution more difficult, and only increases the likelihood that the incidents of violence being carried out by both sides will increase," he said.
Sri Lanka's government announced late Wednesday it was formally pulling out of the Norwegian-brokered 2002 truce, after months of escalating violence and a belief it now has the upper hand in the decades-old conflict.
Under the ceasefire that went into effect from February 23, 2002, both the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels had the option to pull out after giving two weeks' written notice to the Norwegian foreign minister.
The Sri Lanka defence ministry said the government had also decided to formally end any negotiating process with the rebels, who want to carve out a separate Tamil state in the north and east of the ethnic Sinhalese-majority island.
"We remain deeply concerned about the impact of the escalating violence on civilians, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders. Violence will not produce solutions, it will only bring more tragedy to the people of Sri Lanka," Bernier said.
"We call on all parties to respect human rights and to work urgently toward political solutions that will bring peace to Sri Lanka," he said.
