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Plan B

By Amal Jayasinghe

15 January 2006 19:01 hours

Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - Sri Lanka plans a new security force in the capital to deal with possible attacks as concern grows for a fragile ceasefire with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, police said Sunday.

Heavily-armed troops and police have been visible in the city of 650,000 in recent weeks, in line with tighter security following clashes between troops and rebels in the country's northeast, police Deputy Inspector General Pujith Jayasundara said.

Jayasundara, who is in charge of security in the capital, said the police department was in the process of raising a specially-trained unit of a few hundred men to deal with any emergency situation in Colombo.

However, he rejected reports that Tamil rebels planned a suicide truck bomb attack in the capital.

"There is always a general threat, but nothing specific against any landmark building or anything like that," Jayasundara said.

He rejected as "rumours" a report in the privately-run Sunday Leader newspaper that Tiger rebels had planned a truck bomb attack against key economic targets in the capital.

Since early last month violence in the country's northeast, an area largely under rebel control, has killed 130 people, including 78 security personnel.

The upsurge in violence has raised fears for a ceasefire in place since February 2002, as part of a peace process to end a civil war that has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.

The last attack in the capital was in July 2004 when a suspected Tiger rebel cadre detonated explosives strapped to her body.

Four police officers were killed in the bombing which was seen as a targeted attempt to kill a federal minister opposed to the Tigers.

"What is likely is that there could be an attempt by Tigers to target high profile personalities rather than go for an indiscriminate attack," a top defence source here said.

The Tamil Tigers were held responsible for such an attack in August last year when the then foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was assassinated by a suspected rebel sniper.

The last Tiger attack against an economic target was on July 24, 2001 when rebels completely destroyed four parked aircraft of the national carrier SriLankan airlines at the island's only international airport.

In October 1997, the guerrillas rammed an explosives laden truck into the World Trade Centre building in Colombo, a week after Washington designated them a foreign terrorist organisation.

The European Union warned in October that it would consider a ban on the Tigers unless they renounced violence. Britain has already outlawed the Tigers.

-Amal Jayasinghe: win98win@gmail.com

http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/new_ful...scode=932096548

Sri Lanka plans new security force for Colombo Sri LankaI

Sri Lanka is planning a new security force in the capital, Colombo, to deal with possible attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels.

Heavily-armed troops and police have been visible in Colombo in recent weeks, in line with tighter security, following clashes between troops and rebels in the island's northeast.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Pujith Jayasundara said his department was in the process of raising a specially-trained unit of a few hundred men to deal with an emergency.

However, he rejected reports that Tamil rebels were planning a suicide bomb attack in Colombo.

Since last month, violence in the northeast has killed 130 people, including 78 security personnel.

The violence has raised fears that a four-year old ceasefire is no longer holding.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stor...es/s1547910.htm

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