Sport brings hope of respite in Sri Lanka by AFP

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 26th April 2007

 

Sri Lanka's surge into cricket's World Cup final this weekend has raised hopes of a peace dividend on an island united by sport but divided by conflict, even if no one is showing long-term optimism.

 

Cricket is hugely popular in Sri Lanka and is seen as one of the few things that cuts through political and ethnic lines amid escalating fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

 

The nation is set to come to a standstill for Saturday's final in Barbados against Australia, despite the time lag, while President Mahinda Rajapakse is expected to travel out there to cheer them on.

 

Back home, fans are planning multi-faith services to bestow blessings on a team that has overcome the divisions to achieve international success.

 

Sri Lanka's national broadcaster Rupavahini has erected a giant television screen outside parliament while hotels and restaurants have arranged coverage to ensure clients will not miss out.

 

The streets will be deserted for the game, which -- if Tuesday's semi-final is anything to go by -- will start in mid-evening Colombo time and last until three or four in the morning.

 

On Tuesday, the guns fell quiet while Sri Lanka were defeating New Zealand in the semi-final, after the Tigers announced that they would be watching the game, and the hope is for another respite for the final.

 

No attacks were reported on either side, but five hours after the match the rebels were accused of setting off a roadside mine.

 

A Tiger spokesman declined to say whether the rebels would repeat Tuesday's unofficial break, saying only that Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was a "lover of all sports."

 

Police chief Victor Perera warned his men to maintain their guard.

 

"Men will be inclined to go before television sets to watch the match, but there must be no abandoning of stations of duty," he said in his instructions to police.

 

Sri Lanka's cricket team has been hailed as an example of how religious and racial differences can be put to one side in the ethnically divided nation.

 

Master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya is a Sinhala Buddhist, star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan a Tamil Hindu, Chaminda Vaas a Sinhala Catholic, Farveez Maharoof a Muslim and Russel Arnold a Tamil Catholic.

 

Religious leaders point to how majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils play side by side and in 1996 won the cricketing world's most prestigious title.

 

The head of the Anglican church in Sri Lanka, Archbishop Duleep de Chickera, said the diverse make-up of the national team should be an inspiring example of unity.

 

"This characteristic of our team should spur our nation towards a similar goal of unity in diversity," De Chickera said in his Easter message.

 

The 1996 World Cup victory raised hopes of an end to ethnic bloodshed, but the euphoria did not last long. Peace activists are reminding politicians not to let the chance slip again.

 

"Cricket may have the potential to help national unity," concurred Tamil legislator Suresh Premachandran of the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance.

 

"But I don't think that will be the basis for a settlement."

 

The LTTE have been fighting for a separate state for the Tamil minority in a bloody war that has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.

 

A truce was arranged and put in place by peace broker Norway in February 2002, but renewed fighting since December 2005 has pushed the death toll over 4,000, and dimmed hopes of peace.

 

Rights activists say more than 750 people have disappeared in the island in the past year as government troops battle Tamil Tiger rebels, and in recent months, bodies have been found of people shot dead "execution-style" and dumped in swamps and roadsides.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)