Doors still open for peace talks

The Government on Thursday formally notified the Royal Norwegian Government of its decision to terminate the so-called Ceasefire Agreement signed in 2002 between then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the leader of the LTTE terrorist outfit, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The controversial Agreement on a Ceasefire (CFA) between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was signed on February 22, 2002 by Wickremesinghe in Colombo and on the following day by the terrorist leader Prabhakaran in the Wanni.

It was only last Wednesday that the Cabinet of Ministers unanimously decided to withdraw from the CFA, which had been violated by the Tigers on numerous occasions. At the time of its abrogation, the much talked about CFA was merely a paper document as the Tigers have been violating it as a matter of habit.

It is under those circumstances that the Cabinet approved a memorandum submitted by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka. This notification was in terms of Article 4:4 of the agreement and will take effect 14 days from the date of this notice - January 16, 2008.

Accordingly, the Status of the Mission Agreement (SOMA) on the Establishment and the management of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) dated March 18, 2002 between the Royal Norwegian Government and the Government of Sri Lanka will also stand terminated from January 16. Though many quarters urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa to abrogate the CFA immediately after his Presidential election victory in November 2005, he did not do so.

He made every effort to overcome the loopholes of the CFA and strengthen it in an effective manner. But all his efforts were futile as the LTTE had been taking shelter under the CFA to indulge in various forms of terror acts.

Hence, the Government had no option but to go ahead since there was no point in continuing with the CFA as the LTTE had committed a large number of ceasefire violations. The Government decided to officially withdraw from the CFA since it is futile to continue with the ceasefire, given the fact that there is no indication that LTTE is willing to enter the peace process. Under the circumstances, the decision of the Government to abrogate the CFA is commendable as the Tigers had violated the CFA on more than 10,000 occasions. According to the Agreement, either party should give two weeks notification prior to the withdrawal from the Ceasefire Agreement to the Norwegian facilitators and that was precisely what the Government has done.

If any quarter is trying to emphasise that the abrogation of the CFA is an indication that the Government has deviated from its stand of finding a negotiated settlement, it is the farthest from the truth. The Government's decision does not in any way close the doors for peace efforts as it has now been proved beyond doubt that the CFA is an unseen and defunct document from the Government's point of view.

The peace talks initiated during the UNF regime collapsed after six rounds of talks with the LTTE unilaterally withdrawing from the peace talks, violating the Oslo declaration where the two parties decided to settle for a federal solution. That was long before the UPFA won the 2004 General Election.

Even after his election in 2005, President Rajapaksa made genuine efforts to find an honourable solution to the pressing problem through dialogue. At the same time, he emphasised the fact that whatever the solution it should pave the way for an 'honourable peace' acceptable to all communities living in Sri Lanka.

It was the LTTE who walked away from the negotiating table while the Government made a sincere effort to persuade the terrorists to talk peace. The two rounds of talks held in Geneva during the Rajapaksa administration collapsed with the LTTE withdrawing from the talks for no apparent reason and continuing its terror activities. President Rajapaksa has always strove to go that extra mile for peace but Prabhakaran continued to respond with a series of terror acts. Apart from his regular terror acts targeting members of the public, he even deprived innocent civilians of the basic human need of water at Mavil Aru.

How could a legitimate Government turn a blind eye and tolerate such terror acts which bas brought nothing but misery to innocent civilians. It was due to those bitter experiences that the Government embarked on a humanitarian operation of liberating innocent civilians of the East. Our brave Security Forces fulfilled that task with minimum casualties and thousands of those liberated people celebrated the New Year with hopes for the future.

The Government certainly does not rule out a negotiated and peaceful solution as the Government would seriously pursue a peaceful end to the issue in terms of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) proposals which are due next month. The Government will present a set of political proposals that satisfies and receives the consent from all quarters. The main objective of the Government is achieving sustainable stability and peace. Without banning the LTTE at this stage, the Government continues to keep the doors open for talks. At the same time, the abrogation of the CFA does not necessarily mean that the facilitation extended by the Royal Norwegian Government too ends with it. The Government immensely values the contribution of the facilitators and Co-chairs and it is the duty of the international community to back the Government's genuine effort to bring about lasting peace.