Trincomalee no safe haven

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Navy has warned ships not to anchor for long at the Trincomalee harbour. The Navy said that it had reliable information that an attack on vessels in the harbour by the Sea Tigers could be imminent.

They instructed the two ships 'Taraki' and 'Goodwill Guide' which run between Jaffna and Trincomalee not to enter the harbour. Two other vessels 'Naroma' and 'Newco Enduran' were asked to move out of the port.

The Navy has informed ships which have to anchor in Trincomalee for more than two or three days to proceed to the Galle harbour or the Colombo port instead.

Although the Navy claimed that this is being done in view of information that three Sea Tiger commandos have infiltrated the Trincomalee area, the real reason appears to be related to the vacation of the strategic Kattaparichchaan camp by the SLA earlier this week.

The Navy seems to fear that the Sea Tigers might soon be able, as a consequence of this SLA pull out, build up a large base in the Foul Point area and launch attacks within the Trincomalee harbour.