DATE=4/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SRI LANKA - U-N (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261792
BYLINE=VANDANA CHOPRA
DATELINE=COLOMBO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Sri Lanka's main opposition party has called
for an overhaul of the armed
forces after the recent military defeats near Elephant
Pass and as Vandana Chopra reports from
Colombo, the United Nations has announced it is
suspending part of its operations in the country.
TEXT: Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga
advised the country's security chiefs on possible new
strategy, Thursday, on her return to the capital
Colombo after receiving treatment overseas for
injuries suffered in an assassination attempt.
Tamil Tiger rebels captured the strategic Elephant
Pass area last weekend. Military analysts call it the
Sri Lankan military's worst setback in the 17 year
ethnic war.
The opposition has slammed the government for its
failure to defend the Elephant Pass camp and called
for a restructuring of the armed forces and the
dumping of incompetent officers.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has decided to pull out
its mine clearing team from the northern city of
Jaffna due to security concerns saying they could not
operate due to the intensified fighting in the area.
The U_N mine clearing project began last July and was
expected to continue for another two years. But the
pullout of the U-N team comes as Jaffna is under
threat from the rebels.
Tiger rebel units, which have recently captured
Elephant Pass, have asked civilians living along the
road to Jaffna to move to safter areas and to away
from army camps and artillery positions.
Analysts say the geurillas are likely to launch an
assault to re-capture their former stronghold city
which they lost to Sri Lankan government forces in
1995.
The Tamil rebels are fighting for a separate homeland
in Sri Lanka's north and east. (Signed)
NEB/VC/PLM
TEXT:
NEB/WTW/
28-Apr-2000 05:49 AM EDT (28-Apr-2000 0949 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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