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Background on 25-year conflict in Sri Lanka
By The Associated Press AP - Saturday, January 3
Key facts about Sri Lanka, where the government and Tamil Tiger separatists have been fighting for 25 years:
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GEOGRAPHY: A tropical island off India's southern tip. Capital is Colombo. Plantations of coconut, rubber, tea, cinnamon and other spices, with large sparsely inhabited areas of forest and scrub in its 25,500 square miles (66,000 square kilometers).
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PEOPLE: About 20 million: 74 percent Sinhalese, 18 percent Tamil, 7 percent Muslim. Most Sinhalese are Buddhists, while Tamils are predominantly Hindus or Christians.
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CONFLICT: Tamil rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland, accusing the majority Sinhalese of systematic discrimination. The main rebel group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), began as a guerrilla organization. By the mid-1990s, the LTTE had a conventional army that was able to fight the Sri Lankan military. The group also used suicide bombs to kill prominent leaders, including former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa. The conflict has killed at least 70,000 people.
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RECENT FIGHTING: Norway mediated a cease-fire in February 2002, but peace talks stalled in April 2003. Major fighting broke out again three years ago, and the government recaptured the east in 2007. Fighting stalled along the front lines of the rebels' heartland in the north until government forces broke through in July. In recent months, troops battled their way into important towns and seized much of the northern road network, forcing the rebels to retreat into a small section of land in the jungles of the northeast.
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