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¡@¡@COLOMBO, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga on
Monday blamed the government for ignoring the setting up of military camps by
the Tamil Tiger rebels in the north and east which pose threats to national
security.
¡@¡@In a letter to her arch political rival Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe, Kumaratunga said that the 13 camps built by the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels since ceasefire wasimplemented in February
2002 were encircling the Trincomalee harbor in the east, threatening its port
and the government naval base.
¡@¡@"I wish to state that you have permitted a serious situation toarise in the
country by deliberately misrepresenting facts regarding the dangerous situation
in Trincomalee and elsewhere," Kumaratunga said.
¡@¡@Kumaratunga urged Wickremesinghe to "refrain from concealing and distorting
the truth" on Trincomalee.
¡@¡@The government has confirmed there were 13 rebel camps in the northeast but
said all but one were either in rebel-controlled areas or existed before the
19-month ceasefire.
¡@¡@Government spokesman G. L. Peiris has said that the Defense Ministry has
worked out contingency plans to deal with any eventuality in the north and east.
¡@¡@Kumaratunga has accused the government of giving too much to the Tigers in
a bid to end the two decades of ethnic war.
¡@¡@The Norwegian-brokered peace talks have been stalled since the rebels
pulled out in April but the government has said that the talks could resume by
the end of this month when the LTTE rebels submit their counter proposals in
response to government proposalshanded over to them in July. Enditem
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