No peace talks until LTTE lays down arms

By Shanika Sriyananda

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The government has decided to refrain from going in for peace talks with the LTTE terrorists until the outfit lays down arms and commit themselves to a very clear political solution to end the national problem.

“We need a very clear road map to have a fresh start on the peace negotiations with the LTTE”, said the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Peace Process (SCOPP) Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe.

Prof. Wijesinghe, who is now in Geneva said that there were no signs of commitment from the LTTE to resume peace talks and they intended to pursue their goal through military means.

He said the genuineness of the LTTE was still questionable going by past experiences after peace talks under the regimes of late President R. Premadasa, the former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

“Going by past experiences it is very difficult to believe their genuineness. Therefore, if they come for peace talks they should guarantee that they have laid down arms. They should follow Aceh, Nepal and even IRA”, he said.

Meanwhile, the government has rejected a request by the Norwegian team headed by Norway’s Special Peace Envoy John Bauer to visit the Wanni. The team was asked by the government to indicate the reason why they want to visit the North.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was in London last week, reiterated the government’s stand not to resume peace talks with the LTTE until the terrorists were disarmed. In an interview with The Time he explained how the LTTE misused the ceasefire to regain its military and manpower strength and fought back with more vigour.