A portion of the population of Sri Lanka, after the surrender of the Tamil Tigers, celebrated the victory. The government says that there will be a real peace with the minorities. But for the moment all that did was block the aid of the Red Cross to Tamil refugees fled from areas of conflict. Peace doesn't begin well.
According to the military the rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran would have been killed while trying to flee from Tamil tigers last stand. But nobody knows if he is really dead or how he was killed, and probably we will never know because the government does not allow the international press to work in areas of conflict, and therefore all that the government says must be taken with great caution. The Tamils scattered throughout the world are worried about what will happen after this "peace" and most of them do not believe the good intentions of the government of Sri Lanka. If it's true that the Tamil Tigers have used ferocious techniques of guerrilla, including bombs and suicide bombers, it is also true that an armed rebellion begin as a result of oppression.The Sri Lankan government could stop the conflict at any time during the past 26 years by giving the Tamil rights and autonomy. He has not and is difficult to hope that it will now, given that this is a government which bombs its own citizens, hampers humanitarian agencies and international press and kills sinhalese independent journalists.
Only the pressure of the international community could really push the government to pacify Sri Lanka. For many years the conflict on the island has been supported by opposing camps: India, China, Russia, the United States and Britain have helped one or the other party. Now is the time when the international community should unite to drive firmly the Government of Sri Lanka to promote a real peace between the Sinhalese and Tamils. And international public opinion must control what's happening in Sri Lanka. From this depends what kind of peace will be.
Francesco Defferrari
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