Sri Lanka: Tigers Want More Than Disaster Relief

As tsunami relief aid has poured into South Asia, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have not softened their accusatory rhetoric against the Sri Lankan government. In fact, the Tigers have taken the opportunity to paint Colombo in the harshest possible light as political negotiations are put on hold while the region gets its house in order. Though there may be some truth to the Tigers' allegations, the war of words is largely driven by a desire to incite foreign condemnation of Colombo and bring foreign benefactors to the Tigers' aid. Judging from the recent history of foreign interaction with Sri Lanka, these desires seem unlikely to be fulfilled.