In Sri Lanka, peace talks ride on a highway

When the Sri Lankan government reopened the A-9 highway as part of a 2002 cease-fire agreement with the Tamil Tiger rebels, Sri Lankans dubbed it the "road to peace." For many, the reopening of the A-9, which connects the Tamil-dominated northern Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the island nation, symbolized a revitalized peace dialogue between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government.

But when the highway was closed again on Aug. 12, it marked a return to the nearly two decades of violent impasse. The A-9 highway has once again become the main prize in a face-off that threatens to plunge Sri Lanka into yet another full-blown civil war.

"The situation is getting worse," says Sarojini Charles, an ethnic Tamil government officer posted to the frontier town of Vavuniya, the last town on the A-9 before it enters a long swath of rebel-held territory. The highway passes back into government control at Muhamalai, shortly before entering the Jaffna peninsula. Ms. Charles thinks it's unlikely the A-9 will be reopened soon.

Since fighting started again on Aug. 11, the border crossing at Muhamalai has become an intense battlefield between Sri Lankan troops and the Tamil Tigers. Sri Lankan Tamils consider Jaffna their historical homeland.

When the Tamil Tigers made reopening the A-9 highway a condition for peace at last month's talks in Geneva, the two sides met with failure once again. The government has since offered to consider opening alternative routes to Jaffna, but the Tigers say they won't accept that.

"It's not for the LTTE," argues Seevarasiah Puleevadan, an official with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Tamil's militia. "It's for the 600,000 people stranded in Jaffna without access to the land route to other parts of the island."

The government, Charles says, closed the highway to prevent the Tamil Tigers from collecting "taxes" on passengers and goods. The Tigers made as much as $2.8 million per month on unofficial tolls, according to the government, which it says feeds the Tigers' war kitty.

Meanwhile, Jaffna residents say they paid less to pass through the Tiger tolls on the A-9 than what they now pay to take the government's lengthy detour.

"Bus fare was only Rs. 150 [US$1.50]" before the A-9 was closed, says Jaffna resident Shri Nathan. "Passengers didn't have to pay anything. Only business people did."

Now passengers pay Rs. 300 [US$3] for the bus ride from Mannar or Vavuniya to Trincomalee and an additional Rs. 1500 [US$15] for the sea passage from Trincomalee to Jaffna.

"It takes three days for travel. It will be good if they open the A-9," says Suhasini Vickramasurya, a high school student. "We used to be able to go from Vavuniya to Jaffna in four hours."

The Tamil Tigers say the road closure is keeping essential food and medical supplies from reaching the peninsula.

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