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| Sunday, 02 March 2003 |
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Archbishop impressed with LTTE commitment to peace by Ananth Palakidnar The Catholic Archbishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Oswald Gomis, who led a delegation of eight Bishops from the south to the Jaffna Peninsula said that he was impressed with the commitment of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam towards the peace process at the completion of the first year anniversary of MOU. Archbishop Gomis told the Sunday Observer that their four day visit to north last week had provided them with the opportunity to understand the stance of the LTTE towards the MOU and the peace process in the future. "The LTTE clearly stated that they would stand by the peace process and would not resort to violence. Commenting on the hartal which was staged throughout the north and the east on February 22, the LTTE's political wing leader S.P. Thamilchelvan said that the hartal was observed to make the MOU more vibrant and constructive in the future, and was not against the peace process or the Government of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe. S.P. Thamilchelvan pointed out the shortcomings in the past one year in implementing the MOU and emphasized that all efforts must be taken to strengthen it in the future." Archbishop said. The Bishops in their meeting with S.P. Thamilchelvan urged the organisation to prevent the conscription of child soldiers, the import of arms and also the detention of armed forces personnel. In his response to the Bishops, Thamilchelvan had expressed his concern about the lack of consensus among the southern political leadership on the matter of peace negotiations and added that a consensus at the highest levels was imperative to finding a permanent solution to the ethnic issue, Archbishop said. |
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