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| Sunday, 23 March 2003 |
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Rocca confident of peace US Assistant Secretary of State Ms. Rocca praised the commitment shown in moving forward the Sri Lanka peace process and said the Sri Lanka government and the LTTE "have made significant progress toward a political solution that protects the dignity and security of all Sri Lankans and preserves that country's unity". She added that the LTTE had 'renounced Tamil Eelam' but that they would need to 'renounce violence in word and deed' in order to be removed from the US list of proscribed terrorist organisations. She noted that the organisation was still acquiring weapons, and re-iterated that the US was committed to helping the Government of Sri Lanka achieve a peace settlement not only for the benefit of Sri Lanka, but also to show that peace can be achieved through negotiations. Assistant Secretary Rocca made these observations when she testified at a hearing of the House of Representatives International Relations Committee's Sub-committee on Asia and the Pacific, held on March 20. This was in response to a question by Representative Brad Sherman (Democrat-California), who asked whether 'as peace takes hold' there was a possibility that the LTTE would be removed from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations, in particular, whether the 'prior behaviour' would become an issue. The hearing on 'the US and South Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for American Policy' was chaired by Representative James A. Leech (Republican-Iowa), Chairman of the Sub-committee on Asia and the Pacific. Assistant Administrator of the USAID's Bureau for Asia and the Near East Wendy J. Chamberlin, who also testified before the sub-committee described Sri Lanka as 'A success story', and "a clearly defined example of putting the Administration's policies of accountable foreign aid to work in the region." |
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