From the earliest days of her Presidency, Kumaratunga has tried to solve the problem of the war with the Tamil Tigers. An immediate end to hostilities was called within days of the election and, after talks with Tamil rebels, a truce agreed to take effect from January 1995. But following a number of rebel attacks a major offensive was launched in 1995 against the Tigers. In October 1995 Kumaratunga said that she believed a negotiated settlement was the only possible solution to the conflict, but the peace talks collapsed and she has continued to wage war against the Tigers. At that time she told a reporter that she lived like a prisoner in her home because of persistent threats to her life. When she was campaigning for the Presidency last year she described her attitude to danger:

 "I have stopped worrying about my security because if I did I wouldn't do anything else. I would be shivering in my boots (laughs) - I leave that to my security people and hope for the best. As a Buddhist, I believe that one dies when the time comes, nothing can stop it, and if your time is not up you don't."

In the week leading up to the election, she narrowly escaped serious injury in an assassination attempt from a suicide bomber and her mother was also a victim of an attack.

News report on the events in Sri Lanka
and the effect on the Kumaratunga family