ocr: The lami-Sinhalese contlict colors allpolitical debate. In 1983, civil war eruptedbetween the Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) and the govemment. The LTTE wants an independent state in the north and east. The goverment is committedto keeping SriLankca unitied and has resisted federalism. The most recent peace efforts collapsedin 1990 - and were followed by an army campaign in which 10,000 died. On 1 May 1993, President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated. In 1993 - and1994 the army, which is growing in political intluence, captured significant LTTE towns in the Jafina P ...
