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LTTE ready for talks with Government

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO Oct. 28. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam today said it was ready to "commence talks with the Government on the proposals for an interim administration'' for Sri Lanka's northeast.

Briefing reporters after meeting the leader of the Ceylon Workers' Congress, Arumugan Thondaman, in the rebel-held Killinochchi today, the LTTE's political wing leader, S.P. Tamilchelvan, was quoted as saying that "the aspirations of all the communities in the northeast'' would find expression in their counter-proposals.

Mr. Tamilchelvan's remarks come on the eve of the scheduled handing over of its counter proposals to facilitators, Norway, on October 31. Mr. Tamilchelvan termed "guesswork'' a recent report in Colombo on the LTTE's penultimate draft of the interim administration proposals.

On the sensitive issue of holding discussions with the Muslim political leadership, he said it was a "must'' for the Tigers to talk to the Muslims "after'' the counter-proposals were handed over to the Government. "I can say that Muslims will have their rightful place'' in the interim administration and "the aspirations of all the communities in the northeast will find expression in our proposals."

The LTTE's chief negotiator, Anton S. Balasingham, said that he "might'' resume his role "as before if his health improves. But it will be according to a decision by the leadership," a report in the TamilNet website said.

Today's discussion with Mr. Thondaman was the last in a series of meetings between Mr. Tamilchelvan and a section of the island's Tamil political leadership.

The meeting, which lasted for about for two hours, centred mainly on the proposals to be submitted by the LTTE for an interim administrative structure in the northeast.

The LTTE, which pulled out from talks this April, has demanded a politico-administrative interim structure.

An offer by Colombo for a development-oriented structure which excluded powers over land, police, security and revenue, was described by the Tigers as "failing to meet the expectations of the Tamils."

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