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| Sunday, 24 August 2003 |
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'Want to resume talks' - Thamilselvan By our Political Affairs desk The LTTE consultation in Paris aims to arrive at a negotiating platform to resume peace talks with the Government, Tiger Political Chief S.P. Thamilselvan told a suddenly convened news briefing in the French capital yesterday morning. According to reports reaching Colombo, the surprise news briefing, was convened by the Tiger delegation after only a day's discussions although the LTTE consultation is expected to continue for several days more. The consultation, which brings together top Tiger leaders of the LTTE's international network as well as other pro-LTTE legal experts, is being held in a hotel in central Paris under tight security. The media has been asked not reveal the name of the hotel for security reasons. Taking questions from the hurriedly gathered media persons at yesterday briefing Mr. Thamilselvan described the Government's interim administration offer as "ambiguous" but declined to elaborate on any shortcomings that the LTTE perceived. He did say that the Tigers would like to see more power being transferred to the proposed administrative set-up. But his emphasis was that the meeting was more a preparation for the resumption of peace talks. "We want the talks to resume," he told reporters. The Tiger leader gave the number of LTTEers participating in the Paris discussions as 'ten'. However, reports indicated that a number of other international LTTE activists were also associated in the discussions at various times. The 'ten' referred to by Thamilselvan are understood to include former Attorney General Siva Pasupathy PC (now practising in Sydney), SIRHN Director Selvin Ireneuss, LTTE legal adviser G. Visvendran (a Professor of Law, Singapore National University), T. Sornarajah, Colonel Karuna Amman (LTTE Special Commander, East), V. Rudrakumar, LTTE constitutional affairs adviser (USA-based), N. Ramasamy (a political science scholar), Dr. Manuelpillai P. Dominic (Professor of Law, University of Sydney), Dr. J. Maheswaran (Australia-based rehabilitation expert), and S.P. Thamilselvan. Paris-based correspondent Paul Michaud reported earlier: Up to 20 senior Tiger activists are understood to have converged on the French capital for the LTTE consultation. Speaking at the daily press briefing of the French Foreign Ministry, an official spokesman specified that the LTTE Paris meetings were "an internal matter, limited to the LTTE" and that therefore it was "not up to us," i.e., the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, "to communicate about the practical aspects" of the meeting. He was responding to questions from journalists as to how they might obtain accreditation to be able to cover the LTTE meeting. The spokesman also noted that France "had accepted that this meeting be held on its territory from the moment that the Sri Lankan authorities, duly informed, expressed no objection" to its being held in France. The Sri Lankan embassy in Paris has so far not officially issued any comment in the matter. |
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