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World hands Sri Lanka US$4.5 billion in aid

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, left, shakes hands with his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi during their meeting at Koizumi's official residence in Tokyo yesteday. PHOTO: AP

International donors pledged more than US$4.5 billion in aid to Sri Lanka yesterday, giving the island nation a major incentive to find a permanent end to a 20-year civil war between the government and Tamil rebels.

The aid, to be spread over four years and which equals the amount pledged to post-war Afghanistan last year, was heralded by Sri Lankan Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe as marking a new chapter in the history of the Indian Ocean country.

The amount was substantially more than the US$3 billion the Tokyo donors' conference had been expected to raise.

But Tamil Tiger rebels, who boycotted the meeting, maintained their silence, raising doubts about whether stalled peace talks could be resumed -- a key condition attached to much of the aid.

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Sri Lanka had a duty to repay the donors' generosity by ensuring that it actually achieved peace, improved its human-rights record and disbursed the funds in a transparent way.

"It will lay the foundation for the realization of our goal of a peaceful Sri Lanka in which all its people could live in harmony, safety and dignity."

Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan Prime Minster

"For Sri Lankans, there is a price to pay," Armitage told the final session of the conference, attended by representatives from 51 countries and 22 international organizations.

"The price of our faith in you is your progress toward peace," he said, calling on the rebels to resume talks.

Japan offered on Monday to extend up to US$1 billion over three years, but said its implementation would be linked to progress toward peace. The Asian Development Bank matched Japan's pledge, and the EU offered 250 million euros (US$293 million).

Much of the aid will be in the form of low-cost loans.

"I must confess that even the most optimistic among us would not have expected this," Wick-remesinghe said in a speech.

"It will lay the foundation for the realization of our goal of a peaceful Sri Lanka in which all its people could live in harmony, safety and dignity."

The aid is aimed at providing all sides with an incentive to accelerate the peace process after a 16-month ceasefire, rather than return to a war that has claimed 64,000 lives.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) pulled out of peace talks in April and refused to come to Tokyo in protest against what they say is a lack of progress in rebuilding minority Tamil areas since a truce was signed in early last year.

Wickremesinghe tried to revive talks with the Tigers on Monday, saying he was willing to alter the constitution to meet their demand for a regional interim administration, although he did not specifically address rebel conditions for further talks.

He also offered to form a "provisional administrative structure" in the northeast in which the Tigers would have a "significant role." The Tigers have yet to respond officially.

The parallel with Afghanistan may not be the best example for Sri Lanka, however. More than a year after donor nations pledged US$4.5 billion over five years to the war-ravaged country, its government complains it has only received a fraction of that.

Saman Priyankara, a Sri Lankan living in Japan who joined a small group of protesters outside the Tokyo conference, said he was worried the aid would not help the average Sri Lankan.

"This money is not going to the poor people in Sri Lanka," he said. "The government is trying to divide this money between themselves and the Tigers."
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