IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 672 

Urging the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil 

Eelam to engage positively in the forthcoming peace talks and prevent 

a return to armed conflict in Sri Lanka. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2006 

Mr. PALLONE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation 

Tigers of Tamil Eelam to engage positively in the forthcoming peace talks and prevent a return to armed conflict in Sri Lanka. 

Whereas Sri Lanka is Asia’s oldest democracy and remains 

a close friend of the United States; 

Whereas more than 64,000 civilians have died and 350,000 

persons have been internally displaced in Sri Lanka as a 

result of a 20-year armed conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil 

Eelam, a group designated by the Department of State 

as a foreign terrorist organization; 
2 

•HRES 672 IH 

Whereas in 2002 the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam signed a cease-fire agreement; 

Whereas peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka 

and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been 

stalled since April 2003; 

Whereas on August 12, 2005, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Lakhsman Kadirgamar, was assassinated in a terrorist act that has been attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; 

Whereas December 2005 was the bloodiest month in Sri 

Lanka since the cease-fire agreement came into effect in 

2002 due to a series of Claymore mine and suicide attacks against Security Forces of the Government of Sri 

Lanka by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; 

Whereas the United States remains deeply concerned about 

the continued violations of the cease-fire agreement in Sri 

Lanka, as marked by a recent series of violent incidents 

involving Claymore mine and suicide attacks; 

Whereas Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation 

Tigers of Tamil Eelam, recently issued an ultimatum to 

the Government of Sri Lanka to come up with a political 

settlement within the next year or face an ‘‘intensified 

struggle for self-determination’’; 

Whereas the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has a history 

of engaging in a campaign of terror and violence; 

Whereas if hostilities resume in Sri Lanka, the use of unconventional weapons and suicide missions and other terrorist tactics by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 

could cause even greater devastation to the country and 

have implications on regional security; 
3 

•HRES 672 IH 

Whereas to strengthen the implementation of the cease-fire 

agreement, the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have agreed to commence 

peace talks beginning in February 2006 in Geneva, Switzerland; and 

Whereas, despite the agreement to continue peace talks, a return to armed conflict in Sri Lanka is still a very real 

threat: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges, 

2 in the strongest possible terms, the Government of Sri 

3 Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to— 

4 (1) engage positively in the forthcoming peace 

5 talks and to prevent a return to armed conflict in 

6 Sri Lanka; 

7 (2) renegotiate a cease-fire agreement and im8 plement the agreement in a productive and success9 ful manner; and 

10 (3) focus on rebuilding a peaceful, secure, and 

11 prosperous future for Sri Lanka. 

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