Denying news reports of supporting a split in the Tamil Tigers, the United States on Wed. pledged US$ 600,000 in assistance to help election monitoring activities during next months poll.
US ambassador Jeffrey J Lunstead said that the US had nothing to do with the unprecedented break up of the LTTE ahead of the April 2 polls.rn
rnldblquote Karuna? Karuna who? Absolutely baloney, dblquote Lunstead said referring to the renegade Tiger commander, V Muralitharan, better known as Karuna.rn
rnLunstead said the US assistance, will be channelled through the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) and two local non-government organisations endash the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) and the Peoples Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL).rn
rnEach of these non-profit organisations will get an equal share of assistance.rn
rnldblquote USAID has give election assistance to Sri Lanka for over ten years, and we believe that free and fair elections are critical for democracies, dblquot