Sri Lanka reopens 'highway of death'

The road was dubbed the 'highway of death' because many people died alongside it

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- The Sri Lankan military and Tamil Tiger rebels have reopened a strategic highway that links the northern Tamil heartland with the rest of the country.

The A9 Highway was the last section of the main road linking war-ravaged Jaffna peninsula with the rest of Sri Lanka, and its opening was set out in the recent ceasefire agreement.

The road from Colombo to the rebel stronghold of the northern Jaffna peninsula is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) long. The media here dubbed it the "highway of death" because more than 3,500 soldiers and rebels died along the road while fighting for its control.

The reopening of the highway, after 12 years, was part of a February 22 ceasefire agreement that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the government signed in an effort to end the island nation's ethnic conflict.

The highway, mostly controlled by the army and the scene of some of the worst fighting in the island's nearly two-decade civil war, will now allow people to travel by land and avoid the more expensive air and sea routes.

Bus dispute

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But a dispute over control of bus routes has so far prevented buses operating.

Local media reported that the LTTE was demanding that it be able to run its own bus service through areas the rebels control, or have state-run buses pay a fee to do so.

The government had rejected this, saying buses should be allowed to run directly from the south to Jaffna, something unimaginable before the truce was signed.

Its reopening comes two days ahead of a news conference by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive rebel chief, who will be making his first public appearance in 15 years.

He is expected to discuss the first direct peace talks between the Tigers and government, which are to begin in Thailand next month.

More than 64,500 people have died in the 18-year insurgency by the rebels to create a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils in country's northeast.