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Sri Lanka, Tigers sign tsunami-aid accord

Sri Lanka's government signed a deal yesterday to share international tsunami aid with the Tamil Tiger rebels, a government minister said, despite bitter protests by critics who say it threatens the country's sovereignty.

M.S. Jayasinghe, secretary of the reconstruction ministry, signed the pact on behalf of the government, and Norwegian peace brokers then took the document north to the rebel-held capital of Kilinochchi for the Tigers to sign, Maithripala Sirisena, River Basin Development Minister, told a news conference.

Sri Lanka's influential Buddhist clergy, a powerful Marxist party and other key critics say the deal raises the rebels' legitimacy in the international community, boosting their separatist agenda and undermining Sri Lanka's sovereignty.

The Marxists pulled their 39 lawmakers out of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's ruling coalition over the issue, reducing the coalition to a precarious 81-seat minority in the 225-member parliament. The government could collapse if other parties side with the Marxists in a no-confidence vote.

The eight-page Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure says the body will be made up of a three-tiered system of committees to review and approve projects in the Tamil-majority north and east.

The parties are "resolved to work together in good faith and using their best efforts to deliver expeditious relief rehabilitation, reconstruction and development," the document said. The body aims to "facilitate and expedite the process of rebuilding the affected areas."

A representative from the government, Tigers and the Muslim minority will figure in the highest committee, which will be tasked with formulating policy for the equitable allocation and disbursement of funds. Regional and district committees will be set up to execute the projects.

International donors had urged the parties to sign the deal, as many countries are reluctant to give the rebels money directly since they are branded as terrorists in many nations. The signing yesterday came despite protests by hundreds of Marxist demonstrators who marched near parliament to demand that the aid-sharing plan be dropped. Police fired tear gas to disperse them, and two protesters were injured. More protests followed in front of the city's port and at two universities.

The pact was presented to the legislature for debate after months of secrecy, and raucous protests by Marxist politicians prompted legislative leaders to suspend the parliamentary session until July 5. However, the accord does not need legislative approval. Kumaratunga has promoted the plan as a golden opportunity for the government to forge peace with the guerrillas. The rebels say areas under their control have been overlooked in reconstruction efforts and have demanded more say in how international donations for Sri Lankans are spent.
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