|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 25 July 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
LTTE, Govt Peace Secretariat Chief meet The primary task before the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen arriving in the island today is to help sort out the fundamental differences between the Government and the LTTE over the resumption of peace talks and, using his good offices to facilitate confidence building between the two parties. He has to inject a bit of optimism to the peace process. A hectic shuttle diplomacy lies before Mr Helgesen; he is expected to meet President Chandrika Kumaratunga, before he visits Kilinochchi tomorrow and on his return from Kilinochchi, he will update the President and possibly make a second visit to Kilinochchi. Whereas his previous visits - this is his third visit since the April second elections- this time Helgesen has to deal with a new issue, i.e. the Karuna factor and Eastern tensions which shot itself to the top of the agenda overshadowing all the key issues. This is the issue which has been making headlines for quite sometime. And this was the main issue at the discussions between the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Chief Gen Trond Furuhovde and LTTE political chief S.P. Tamilselvan on Thursday. Helgesen's main task is to help the two parties to bridge their differences over the ISGA proposals. Given that the recent developments on the peace front do not augur well for the peace process, an early resumption of the peace talks is vital to build the confidence and trust between the two parties and thus sustain the continuation of the peace process. As it is all well-known, the fundamental disagreement between the two parties is over the agenda of the peace talks. The Government wants the parallel discussions be held between the two parties on the interim administration and the final solution whereas the Tigers want the ISGA be set up, before core-issues are taken up. "The Government is of the opinion that the Interim Administration (IA) proposals should not be taken up in isolation during future talks between the Government and the LTTE," Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle told a media briefing this week. "The LTTE's proposals for an Interim Administration should be discussed based on a final solution when peace talks resume". The Minister said during the Prime Minister's visit to India, the Indian Government had the same view that the IA should be taken up only in the discussions for a final solution. Thus Helgesen has to bridge the gulf between the two parties. And Helgesen's visit comes in the wake of reports that the Government has sent a set of proposals on the resumption of peace talks to the Tigers and are waiting for the LTTE's response. The Tigers too have placed hopes on Helgesen. As an LTTE spokesman put it the peace process is now in a "blockade". Helgesen, he said, could help push the process on to the right track. But the picture is not so gloomy as pessimists would portray. Early this week LTTE Peace Secretariat Chief Pulidevan met his counterpart on the Government side, Jayantha Danapala at the Peace Secretariat, Colombo. The meeting, though received little press publicity was an ice breaker for it was the first direct dialogue between the Government and the LTTE since the latter's unilateral suspension of the peace talks in April, 2003. The unexpected meeting was a courtesy call made by Pulidevan on Jayantha Danapala, the former UN under secretary on disarmament. The duo discussed the recent developments on the peace front, especially in the East, where Danapala visited last weekend, his first visit in his capacity as the Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat. SLMM chief Trond Furuhovde was busy throughout the week. Indeed, increasing tensions and sporadic murders committed both by the Tigers and Karuna loyalists in the East had forced Gen. Furuhovde to visit Kilinochchi twice within the past two weeks. And it was only last week that he sent a strongly worded letter to the Government and the LTTE, holding both parties responsible for ceasefire violations in the East and warning such activities would endanger the Ceasefire Agreement. When Gen. Furuhovde met Tamilselvan on Thursday, discussions centred on the Eastern security situation and the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement. Tamilselvan demanded para-military groups to be disarmed referring to clause 1.8 of the Ceasefire Agreement. "Mr. Tamilselvan raised the issue of law and order in Batticaloa and the disturbing trend consequent to the activities of the various paramilitary groups. The Political Chief expressed great concern over the risk faced by unarmed LTTE members in the GOSL areas. The Head of the SLMM said that he is aware of the situation and conscious of the violations in the context of article 1.8 of the CFA which clearly prohibits the presence of armed groups. Continuing further he said that he has already urged the Government to take effective measures to arrest the deteriorating situation and will continue to do so in future as well," LTTE peace secretariat website stated. Ironical enough, on the same day, murder of the Akkaraipattu Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman by the Tigers epitomised the plight of the non-LTTE political activists who had to hand over their weapons under article 1.8. The security forces said the two member LTTE pistol gang emerged out of the blues to shoot Mr. Kamaladasan, who had been guarded by four policemen. As the Prevention of Terrorism Act marks its silver jubilee, the North-East Secretariat of Human Rights - an LTTE front set up early this month- vowed it would fight to repeal the draconian law. Fr. M.X. Karunaratnam, the Chairman of the Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights said in a statement:" Sri Lanka has been under siege for well over two decades, of two draconian laws namely Emergency Regulations passed under the Public Security Ordinance from time to time and Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 48 of 1979 , made permanent in 1982, defying all norms of Human Rights and Human Dignity". "On this day of the completion of twenty five years of this draconian law, Northeast secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) condemn the continued existence of this law and resolve to fight for its removal". World Bank country director in Sri Lanka, Peter Harrold ran into trouble when he was misquoted in the LTTE Peace Secretariat website. Harrold visited Kilinochchi mid this week for a workshop in humanitarian assistance and later met Tamilselvan. The LTTE website said about the meeting: "Tamilselvan pointed out that the delay on the part of the government to recommence negotiation on the basis of the ISGA proposals is seriously viewed by the Tamil people who have been denied the dividends of peace for such a long time. Mr. Peter Harrold endorsed that view and said that the international donor community and the WB are conscious of the necessity for the institutionalizing of the ISGA in the context of the Tokyo declaration wherein the necessity for an interim mechanism has been emphasized as a part of the political resolution,". Harrold was not expected to comment on an contentious political issue. Had he really said what was attributed to him in the website, he is guilty of interfering with internal politics of a sovereign country. The World Bank Colombo office was later quoted saying as " the Country Director, in his meeting with S. P. Tamilselvan, endorsed the view that peace negotiations should be resumed as soon as possible to enable a discussion on the ISGA proposal by both parties." |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
