There is a general expectation of an outbreak of war with the national conflict becoming more acute by day. Will it be immediate is the question rife in the air. Political observers expect a pointer with the decision at Brussels in the Council of Ministers of the EU comprising 25 members. The announcement is expected by mid-night or tomorrow morning.

An EU ban on the LTTE is believed to damage the peace process and expedite war. in three ways. The Tamil people, cheated and let down at every turn of history by successive Sinhala governments with false promises, would not have agreed to be engaged in Peace Talks if not for the faith they had in the integrity of the International Community, expecting its direct participation would prevent further Sinhala cheating. Tamil faith in the IC is still implicit.

If the proposed ban comes into force resulting in isolating the LTTE from the international community, then the consequences can be rather serious in that the Tamils will lose faith in talks of any kind. In the absence of options, they will be constrained to resort to war to win their just cause and legitimate aspirations.

Another complication would be for the continuation of the SLMM to monitor peace in the island, in its present form. An EU ban would deprive Denmark, Sweden and Finland the legitimacy to continue functioning on the SLMM, these countries being members of the EU.

What is of greater concern is that the ban could be misinterpreted as EU's rejection of the fair and just aspirations of the Tamils, thus encouraging Sinhala chauvinism and extremism in the South of the island, and give impetus to further unleashing of Sinhala terror and violence on Tamils. Tamil resistance is bound to escalate into an inevitable war. .

The misinformation provided by the Sinhala polity is apparently misleading the IC. The argument presented by President Mahinda Rajapakse and his colleagues hat the ban could help bring back the LTTE to negotiations is but a canard at its worst.

An English translation of the Editorial in Sudar Oli, a Tamil National daily, based in Colombo

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