The Government has disarmed two anti-rebel Tamil militant parties after nearly two weeks of rising tensions in the eastern town of Trincomalee, Defence Ministry officials said yesterday.
Ministry sources said police were ordered to withdraw all weapons issued by the state to the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam from their regional offices in the eastern district.
The parties are among five militant groups which have entered the country's political mainstream and were issued with arms by the Government to fight alongside security forces against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the north and east.
But in a move that has surprised observers, the Government has chosen not to disarm the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), considered the most militant among the five-party Tamil alliance and whose cadres in the eastern district have been directly involved in the recent violent confrontations.
The EPDP, in particular, has been accused of killings, harassment of rival political groups and misuse of weapons provided by the state to fight the Tigers.
Police said they had successfully accomplished a complete surrender of weapons from the two pro-government militant parties, which they blame for several killings and the creation of security problems in the district.
But the heavily armed militants, who all deny the claims, said relations between the Government and their alliance had reached breaking point following the action to withdraw weapons from party cadres.
