Twilight of the Tigers

Book excerpt: The fall of Kilinochchi, LTTE's bastion for over a decade, in January 2009 is a landmark in the military campaign by the Sri Lankan government against the rebel group. This turning point in one of the world's most brutal intra-state conflicts needs to be analysed in the wider context of the developments in the country since the initiation of a ceasefire in Decenber 2001. Ths book focuses on the political vicissitudes of Sri Lanka since the initiation of this ceasefire which sought to end the violent confrontation between the LTTE and the armed forces of the government. The main theme is the peace process of Sri Lanka and the developments associated with its collapse. The book is both a detailed documentation of events that followed the ceasefire and an exercise in synthesis and analysis. The underlying argument is that sustainable peace cannot be achieved through negotiations until the Tigers disarm and abandon terrorism. It forecasts, with guarded optimism, that the recent battlefield defeats of the LTTE could be considered the final phase of the 'Eelam War' that began twenty-five years ago.