Timeline: A nation divided
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November 9, 1994: The People's Alliance (PA), headed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), wins the general election. Its leader, Kumaratunga, is elected president later in the year.
Kumaratunga promises to end a decades-old civil war with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) separatists. By year's end a ceasefire holds in the north and east.
April 19, 1995: The Tigers shatter ceasefire by resuming a vicious bombing campaign after peace talks with the government collapse. But the government retaliates, driving the LTTE out of Jaffna in the most bitter battle seen in the conflict.
1996: Strong guerilla tactics leave government troops overwhelmed.
February 14, 1997: On the 49th anniversary of national independence, government troops launch an offensive against Tamil separatists aiming to open a land route to the Jeffna peninsula.
December 20, 1999: President Kumaratunga is wounded in a failed bomb-assassination attempt during an election rally. She is later re-elected as president.
April 25, 2001: A unilateral rebel ceasefire ends incurring losses on both sides. (Full story)
July 2, 2001: In a strongly worded statement, the Sri Lankan government says the only way to end the country's long running Tamil insurgency is full-scale war.
July 11, 2001: Kumaratunga suspends parliament for two months, leaving Sri Lankans pondering the political future of their war-wracked country.
September 16, 2001: Tamil Tiger guerillas attack a ship carrying 1,200 soldiers; six guerillas are killed and 40 soldiers wounded.
October 29, 2001: A bomb in the capital Colombo kills three people; it may have been aimed at Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, officials say.
December 17, 2001: First session of the country's new parliament's starts, its main task -- to quell mounting unrest in the south Asian nation.
December 25, 2001: A ceasefire in the civil war is declared. (Full story)
January 10, 2002: A Norwegian delegation arrives in Sri Lanka to aid in peace talks between the government and Tamil Tigers. (Full story)
January 15, 2002: The Sri Lankan government eases a 20 year economic embargo against the Tamil Tigers.
February 21, 2002: Fighting breaks out between the Sri Lankan navy and Tiger Tamils in the seas off northeast Sri Lanka.
February 22, 2002: The government and Tamil Tiger rebels sign an open-ended cease-fire accord. (Full story)
March 9, 2002: A grenade explodes at an election rally for the governing United National Fever, killing at least four people and wounding 20.
March 14, 2002: Sri Lanka's prime minister visits the northern Tamil city of Jaffna, the first such visit in two decades. (Full story)
March 25, 2002: Exiled Tamil leader, Anton Balasingham, returns home to Sri Lanka after three years in self-imposed exile.
April 8, 2002: The 'highway of death', linking northern Tamil heartland and the rest of the country, is reopened by the military and Tigers.
April 10, 2002: Tamil Tigers leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, addresses his first news conference in 15 years. (Full story)
May 21, 2002: Face-to-face talks are held between government officials and Tamil Tiger rebels for the first time in seven years.
July 24, 2002: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe meets with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington to seek support in bringing peace to his country.
August 13, 2002: The Sri Lankan government agrees to grant the Tamil tigers access to a sea passage between key bases in the north and east of the country, a key concession seen as a major breakthrough in the peace process. (Full story)
September 16, 2002: Landmark peace talks between Sri Lanka and Tamil Tiger rebels begin with the two sides meeting for the first direct talks in seven years in Sattahip, Thailand.
Aid conference in Japan raises billions of dollars for the peace cause
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December 6, 2002: The Tamil Tigers formally commit themselves to autonomy in a federal system in an undivided Sri Lanka, while the government says it is willing to concede "a substantial measure of autonomy to the Tamils."
January 4, 2003: Days before a fourth round of talks, the Tamil rebels harden their position against calls to disarm in exchange for allowing refugees to return to army-controlled areas.
May 30, 2003: For the second time in a month, Tamil Tigers reject government proposals to restart stalled peace talks, this time on the grounds the plan was not suited to carrying out humanitarian work in Tamil areas.
June 9, 2003: Aid conference in Japan sees 47 countries from around the world pledge billions of dollars to help Sri Lanka end 20 years of civil war.
June 11, 2003: Tamil rebels rejects the Sri Lankan prime minister's plan for an interim authority for governing the northeastern part of the island nation.
August 26, 2003: Government announces $180 million infrastucture improvement package designed to boost the rural economy and based on reduced spending on the country's security forces -- one of the first signs of a so-called "peace dividend".
October 23, 2003: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga calls for the sacking of Norwegian general in charge of the islands peace monitoring mission, saying he is biased towards the rebel side.
November 4, 2003: Kumaratunga sacks defense, interior and media ministers. The president also suspends parliament and seizes control of state-run media -- all while the prime minister is abroad. A political crisis ensues.
November 10, 2003: After a meeting between Wickremsinghe and his cabinet, the government announces that peace talks with the rebels have been postponed until the political power struggle is resolved.
November 11, 2003: Wickremesinghe accepts an offer from Kumaratunga to meet in a bid to end the standoff.
The
Associated Press &
Reuters contributed to this report.
