![eelam war iv eelam war iv](https://revolutionaryfrontlines.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/sri-lanka-genocide-tamil-civilian-interment-camp-vavuniya.jpg)
![eelam war iv eelam war iv](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qusOR6d2v4g/TLD5Po-jTCI/AAAAAAAABsU/2a1DFORqk8Y/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/LTTE_cropped_2_web.jpg)
Both sides also exchanged prisoners of war for first time. This was a key compromise from the LTTE, which had always insisted on an independent Tamil state and it also represented a compromise from the government, which had seldom agreed to more than minimal devolution. During the talks, both sides agreed to the principle of a federal solution and the Tigers dropped their long standing demand for separate state. The much anticipated peace talks began in Sattahip Naval Base, Chonburi Province, Thailand on the September 16 and 5 further rounds followed in Rose Garden, Nakhorn Pathom Province, Norway and Berlin, Germany. Many foreign countries also offered substantial financial support if peace was achieved and optimism grew that an end to the decades long conflict was in sight.
![eelam war iv eelam war iv](http://sltrevolt.weebly.com/uploads/1/7/0/6/17069646/853792132.jpg)
In August, the government agreed to lift the ban on the LTTE and paved the way for the resumption of direct negotiations with the LTTE.įollowing the signing of the ceasefire agreement, commercial air flights to Jaffna began and the LTTE opened the key A9 highway, which linked government controlled area in the south with Jaffna and ran through LTTE territory, allowing civilian traffic through the Vanni region for the first time in many years. Norway was named mediator, and it was decided that they, together with the other Nordic countries, monitor the ceasefire through a committee of experts named the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. The two sides formalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Februand signed a permanent ceasefire agreement (CFA). The new government welcomed the move, and reciprocated it 2 days later, announcing a month-long ceasefire and agreeing to lift a long-standing economic embargo on rebel-held territory. On 19 December, amidst efforts by Norway to bring the government and the Tamil Tigers to the negotiating table, the LTTE announced a 30-day ceasefire with the Sri Lankan government and pledged to halt all attacks against government forces. The elections held on 5 December 2001 saw a sweeping victory for the United National Front, led by Ranil Wickremasinghe, who campaigned on a pro-peace platform and pledged to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict. The war took on an added dimension when the LTTE Air Tigers bombed Katunayake airbase on March 26, 2007, the first rebel air attack without external assistance in history. Continued fighting led to several territorial gains for the Sri Lankan Army, including the capture of Sampur, Vakarai and other parts of the east. The fighting resumed after a four-year ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and LTTE. The government's casus belli was that the LTTE had cut off the water supply to surrounding paddy fields in the area. Renewed hostilities began on the 26 July 2006, when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets bombed several LTTE camps around Mavil Aru anicut. Eelam War IV is the name given to the fourth phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which is currently proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries.