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| Sunday, 14 July 2002 |
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LTTE committed to peaceful settlement by ANANTH PALAKIDNAR The head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) political wing S. P. Thamilchelvan reiterated his organisation's commitment for a political settlement and urged the media to play a constructive role in support of it. Mr. Thamilchelvan met a group of senior journalists from the south at his office in Killinochchi last Wednesday. The meeting was jointly arranged by the Centre for Counter Conflict Journalism and the European Union . Expressing his views on the LTTE's stance since the Memorandum of Understanding was signed in February, Mr. Thamilchelvan said he was confident that the peace process would proceed smoothly and the LTTE would do its best to strengthen the understanding with the Government. Mr. Thamilchelvan said: "The MoU was signed between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran to create a conducive atmosphere for the peace process.Despite several provocations in the North and the East and also in the South by certain forces to disrupt the goodwill between the Government and the LTTE there was a positive atmosphere in the North -East for the peace process and therefore the media should play a responsible role in consolidating it. "We are aware that the people in the south are longing for peace. They have indicated their support to the Government at the recent polls. The LTTE will not let down hopes of the people. We want all citizens in this country to live in peace and harmony without any discrimination." Commenting on the peace process, he said the LTTE was confident that the talks would begin without any obstacles. "The venue has been already chosen and only the date and the time have to be fixed.It is now upto the Government to decide on the `D-Day' for the talks. " Explaining the recent clashes in the East between the Tamils and the Muslims he said there were some unscrupulous elements behind it."The LTTE was keen on creating a greater understanding among all sections of people living in the North and the East. It was very unfortunate that certain unruly elements are trying to create chaos between the Tamils and the Muslims in the East. The LTTE is mature enough to understand the nature of the problem. We will not let down the Muslims, because they are part and parcel of our endeavour for a political solution. We will give due importance and prominence for the Muslims" he said. Finally Mr. Thamilchelvan said that the LTTE would never deviate itself from the current peace process and added it was important for the political forces in the south to do their best to prevent any calamity in the quest for peace in the country. |
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