Sri Lanka's government plunged into crisis - troops in streets

[dArKeR]

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's government was plunged into crisis and its peace process imperilled Tuesday when the president deployed troops around the capital and fired three key ministers who were trying to coax Tamil rebels back into talks to end a 20-year civil war.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga — who is commander of the armed forces and has wide executive authority under the constitution — made the surprise power grab against her political rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, while he was in Washington to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Ms. Kumaratunga has been severely critical of how Mr. Wickremesinghe has handled peace efforts with the Tamil Tiger rebels, arguing that his government has given too many concessions without ensuring that the Tigers abandon their armed struggle.

http://theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031104.wsrilank1104/BNStory/Front/

[TahitiNut]

1. My apologies -- duplicate

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=199030

While this post was earlier (and I failed to look for it), the referenced thread gained discussion momentum. Thus, I'm locking this one as a duplicate. Interested DUers are welcome to continue discussing this in the referenced thread.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,
TahitiNut - DU moderator