Civil war in the jungle: The demons that haunt Sri Lanka

The deserted beaches are littered with rubbish. The jungles are burning, torched by troops trying to flush out the Tamil Tigers. Eighteen months after the tsunami, Justin Huggler reports from Trincomalee on the disaster confronting a seeming paradise

Published: 03 May 2006

The guide books say the beach at Uppuveli is the finest on Sri Lanka's east coast. The setting is the stuff of tropical island paradise, a graceful curve of white sand with palm trees leaning over it, and emerald water as far as the eye can see. But today the beach is covered in discarded rubbish. The hotels and beach huts are empty and boarded up, no tourists come here any more. As evening falls menacing packs of dogs roam the empty beach.

It has nothing to do with the tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka's beaches a year and a half ago. A different disaster is looming over Sri Lanka: a man-made disaster. The tourists are not coming here any more because Sri Lanka seems to be slipping inevitably back into civil war.

Article Length: 1845 words (approx.)