Sri Lanka rejects LTTE demand for lifting ban

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, MAY 26. Sri Lanka today rejected the demand by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lift the ban on it before the commencement of peace talks, describing it as ``unreasonable'' and intended to stall or scuttle the Norwegian- facilitated process for negotiations.

The government said in a press release that the lifting or suspension, ``if at all'' could only be an outcome of the negotiation process. ``The LTTE's demand for the removal of the proscription prior to the commencement of negotiations is unreasonable and is intended to delay and, if possible, prevent the commencement of the negotiation process,'' the government stated.

The demand for lifting the ban was put by the LTTE to the Norwegian special envoy, Mr Erik Solheim, when he visited northern Sri Lanka earlier this month for a meeting with the group's political wing leader, Mr Sithamilchelvam.

Sri Lanka proscribed the LTTE in 1998 after the bombing of the Dalada Maligawa Buddhist temple in Kandy.

The LTTE has said it will not participate in the peace talks as a ``banned, illegal, terrorist organisation''. It has demanded to be recognised as the ``legitimate'' and ``authentic'' representative of the people. The demand for de-proscription was not entirely new, but it became an ``essential pre-requisite'' for the talks after an ill-advised military operation in Jaffna peninsula by the government in end-April failed badly and gifted the LTTE an advantageous bargaining position.

The government said it was reiterating ``its commitment to a negotiated settlement of the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka'' and called upon the LTTE to ``desist from placing one obstacle after another in the way of the peace process.''

It recalled that the LTTE leader, Mr Velupillai Prabhakaran, had said in November 2000 that he wanted to talk to the government without imposing any pre-conditions. Calling attention to the various bombings, killings and assassinations in Sri Lanka, the government rejected the LTTE claim that it had been falsely labelled as a terrorist organisation, and said the proscription was ``fully'' justified.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Army pins hopes on dialogue with Pakistan
Next     : Gill refuses to comment on T.Nadu development