COLOMBO: Trudging along to secure some kind of normalcy after the devastating tsunami attack of December 26, the government of President Kumaratunge is finding itself bombarded by accusations from the LTTE and the opposition parties that it just isn't 'doing enough'.

Close on the heels of the LTTE complaints comes those of the Muslims with the head of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Rauf Hakeem, stating that the government was not prepared to trust other political parties with regard to relief measures accusing some government officials doing "VVIP sightseeing" in the affected areas.

"They do not get down from the cars. They do not know how the people are suffering. Where the Muslims are concerned I cannot be satisfied with what has been done so far", an angry Hakeem told 'Dawn' stating that there was a 'major difference' in the efficiency of relief work in the south and other areas.

Taking a barb at the LTTE, the Muslim leader said that the Tamil Tigers should not be allowed to "monopolize the Situation" in their favour. Meanwhile, making matters worse in the overall tsunami aftermath, is the underlying security threats and military insecurities that both the LTTE and the government seems to be gripped by, despite the fact that both parties have suffered heavy but officially un-estimated military tidal wave casualties.

Following a defence report by the Colombo-based Sunday Times, which stated that the Sri Lankan Air Force UAVs had sighted two LTTE aircraft on a secret airfield, Presidential spokesman Harim Peiris admitted that if the report was correct, "there was indeed a grave security risk".

However, the LTTE which has always has its own story to tell, portrayed the role of the victim last week when its elusive leader (whom the local media had written off as drowned in the tsunami waves) met a special Norwegian delegation headed by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson and special peace facilitator for Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim.

Norway which has been attempting for nearly five years to be a successful peace facilitator, once more found itself in 'no peace' land. This time it had to give ear to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran stating that the government was planning to purchase 150 million dollars worth ammunition from Iran.

"We told them that we are gravely concerned of the government's military deal with Iran for 150 million dollars at a time when the Tamils are seriously affected by the tsunami", the LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham and closest confidante of the Tiger leader said. He warned that the tsunami had not made the LTTE give up its freedom fight for a separate state.

Balasingham flew in to the country to meet the Norwegians last Thursday from London where he resides. His previous visit in November last year aimed at a possible kick start of the peace talks with the government, failed with there being no compromise to the LTTE's calls for the government's acceptance of its proposals for a separate Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA).

The LTTE's present post-tsunami grouse with the government apparently is that the government had not displayed a 'notable' effort to win the hearts of the Tamil people. He dismissed President Kumaratunge's invitation for the LTTE to join the government task force as a 'mere invitation limited to words'.

Asked to comment on the accusations by the UNICEF that the LTTE were recruiting children orphaned by the tsunami as child soldiers, an irate theoretician brushed the question away stating it was all 'rubbish'.

A similar response was given when asked about the LTTE cadres killed in the tsunami. According to Balasingham 'only around six' cadres had been killed by the sea waves. "Our naval bases are away from the shore. There has been a purposeful campaign by the South to exaggerate", is his abrupt response.

Meanwhile, in Colombo there are underlying political tensions within the government with its Marxist ally the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) stating publicly that the government "was like the emperor without clothes".

The statement was made by the JVP Minister of Small and Rural Industries K. D Lal Kantha at a tsunami rehabilitation meeting calling for "people who could correct the government" and of course be as frank as the child in the fairy tale.

Like the cease fire with the Tamil Tiger rebels, the co-existence of the 39 JVP members represented in Parliament, has been fragile, subject to many rumblings. With the JVP taking many initiatives to get through the relief operation, the latest government reaction has been to monitor the publicity given to the Marxists in the state run media.