SRI LANKA:Two groups of Sri Lankan Tamils have fled to neighbouring India by boat in recent days, raising fears that the island republic is sliding back into civil war after nearly four years of a ceasefire between Tamil Tiger rebels and the military.
A group of nine Tamils, including three children and three women, arrived on southern India's coast of Tamil Nadu state yesterday from northwest Sri Lanka where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have waged a civil war since 1983 for independence that has claimed over 65,000 lives.
Yesterday's group of fleeing Tamils followed an earlier batch of 24 that included seven women and nine children, who crossed the Palk Strait a day earlier.
With still no sign of peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, many people in the country fear the delay could lead to increased violence and possibly even the outbreak of hostilities.
Nearly 60 military personnel have died in various incidents such as ambushes and mine blasts last month, sparking fears that the 2002 ceasefire agreement could collapse.
The Tamil Tigers have disclaimed all responsibility for the attacks and blamed armed civilian groups for the violence, but their credibility is somewhat suspect.
So far, the army has not retaliated as the government is hoping to put pressure on the Tigers internationally to resume talks, but the security situation on the ground is fast deteriorating, reports from Colombo indicate.
Tensions rose soon after President Mahinda Rajapakse assumed office last November.
Though Mr Rajapakse offered to hold direct talks with the Tamil rebels, analysts said his insistence on a unitary state has disappointed the islands minority Tamils.
For over two decades the LTTE has been waging civil war for a separate state in the north and east of the island republic for ethnic minority Tamils.
They allege discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. They maintain that the minority Tamils can prosper only away from Sinhalese domination.
Despite international intervention in recent weeks, including from the US, talks on a review of the ceasefire agreement are still to begin.
The government is willing to hold talks in any Asian country. But the rebels insist they should be held in Norway - closely involved as a peace facilitator for several years - or in any other European country, but no consensus is forthcoming.
Tension, meanwhile, is high in the LTTE's stronghold in the northern Jaffna peninsula where they run a de facto government, and in eastern Sri Lanka where people complain that increased house-to-house searches, detentions and intense scrutiny at checkpoints are a throwback to the violent past.
Colombo has repeatedly said it will not be provoked into resuming war, but President Rajapakse is caught in a cleft stick - juggling the demands of hard-line allies and an increasingly frustrated military who want to teach the Tigers a lesson.
The rebels, for their part, say they want peace, but add that they are ready to use suicide bombers - like they did before with devastating results - if war resumes.