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| Sunday, 24 November 2002 |
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EPDP pressed to leave Delft by P. Krishnaswamy Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to continue his mediatory talks with Tamil political parties early next month on the tense situation on Delft Island, the "Sunday Observer" learns. A discussion convened by the PM last Friday with the participation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) was not conclusive. The TNA, which is known to represent LTTE interests, was insisting on the demand that EPDP cadres be evicted from the island of Delft political sources disclosed. The TNA delegation led by R.Sampanthan MP insisted that the EPDP should leave the island immediately on account of the present turbulent situation. But the EPDP delegation, led by Douglas Devananda MP, had argued that the settlement of the issue should be entrusted to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The EPDP, which now controls the Delft Pradeshiya Sabha, and also nine other PSs of the total 17 PSs in the Northern peninsula, evacuated its stronghold Delft last month after clashes with the LTTE. The militant group which returned to the democratic mainstream over a decade ago also has two MPs representing the Jaffna district. There had been relative calm for over a month when the EPDP moved out of the embattled island stronghold. With their return to Delft last week a tense situation has erupted with people of the island staging continuous agitations throughout last week and yesterday. Student groups in the peninsula also entered the fray. The Jaffna University Students' Federation, the International Tamil Eelam Students' Federation and several voluntary organisations have staged demonstrations and hunger strikes. |
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