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| Sunday, 28 August 2005 |
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CFA talks venue still undecided by Ranga Jayasuriya The LTTE has offered to hold the proposed direct meeting with the government to review the truce agreement in Kilinochchi agreeing to the government's position that the talks be held in Sri Lanka. An LTTE source said that the LTTE Peace Secretariat has conveyed the movement's offer to the government through the Norwegian peace facilitators. The LTTE has ruled out the no-man's land in Muhamalai and Omanthai separating the government and LTTE controlled areas, citing security concerns. "If the government accepts, we are ready to hold the meeting in Kilinochchi. That would be a better venue than the no-man's land as far as security is concerned," he told the Sunday Observer. An official of the government peace secretariat however said the Peace Secretariat had not been informed yet of the LTTE offer. "Up to Friday evening, we have not yet received any such offer," he said. Norwegian Embassy spokesman Tom Knappskog declined to comment. "All that I can say is we have not yet agreed on the date and the venue," he said. The government on Monday informed the LTTE through the Norwegians that it wanted talks be held in the island, rejecting LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham's interest that the talks should be held in Oslo. The LTTE agreed for a direct meeting to review the practical implementation of the truce agreement and to prevent political killings, after Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen met Balasingham in London in the wake of the killing of Minister Kadirgamar. Meanwhile Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Chief Hagrup Haukland said the SLMM was preparing itself for the direct meeting. "We have identified the problem areas and we will give our comments on how to address these mistakes." "One problem area is the absence of contact between the local commanders of the two parties. We need to rectify this. Increased contact and cooperation could improve security situation," he said. Asked whether the SLMM would ask for more enforcing powers, he said it was up to the parties to decide the powers of the SLMM. "That is a sensitive area, which we do not want to deal with," he said. |
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