May 05, Colombo: Sri Lanka appealed to the international community to help stop arms supplies to the Tamil Tigers fighting an ethnic war for the last three decades.

Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam last week told the UN Security Council in New York, that government efforts to achieve sustainable peace have failed primarily as a result of the illicit arms flow to the rebels.

Ambassador Kariyawasam said Sri Lanka appeals to the international community to take urgent action with all available means, to stem the flow of weapons into the hands of non-state actors like terrorist groups who do not respect internationally-accepted civilized norms and conduct.

“Unbridled violence and abominable terrorist acts can be stopped only if supply and access to such weapons can be halted immediately,” he said.

He said that weapons and ammunition should only be held by legal entities and states who are responsible to the international community for their conduct under international law and other treaty regimes that govern good conduct and respect for human rights and humanitarian law.

A local media report yesterday said that despite the claims by Sri Lanka Navy that it had destroyed all 10 arms ships of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the country's intelligence agencies have revealed that the rebels unloaded at least three shiploads of military hardware in the last two months.