British FM snubs TNA

By Thava Sajitharan

Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Ananthasangaree and the leader of the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) T. Siththarthan met with the visiting British Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Minister Kim Howell while on an official visit to the island.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer Ananthasangaree said, he and Siththarthan had briefed the British Minister on 'what they knew about the present situation in the North-East (NE)'. "We told him about the sorry plight of our people living in the North East" he said.

According to Ananthasangaree, issues concerning human rights violations including abduction and killing of civilians and forcible child conscription in the NE were discussed at the meeting.

"I stressed the vital role of the international community in bringing about a permanent solution to the national crisis of Sri Lanka", he said. Ananthasangaree said that he maintained that it was high time that the international community pressurise the Sri Lankan government to come out with a political solution.

"As for the LTTE, they will not agree to any solution.

But the government should present its proposals with regard to solving the ethnic conflict without further delay". Meanwhile the Tamil daily Virakesari reported on Friday that a request from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to meet with Mr.Howell was turned down by the British High Commission.

The report stated that the High Commission had cited the busy schedule of the minister as the reason. The TNA members were reported to have expressed displeasure that the British Minister had failed to go into the tsunami-affected Batticaloa during his visit to the Eastern province.

However Mr. Howell visited Ampara on Wednesday and observed the progress of the development projects funded by Britain.