The Hindu : International : Japan cautions Colombo, LTTE against missing the opportunity

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Monday, Feb 14, 2005

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International

Japan cautions Colombo, LTTE against missing the opportunity

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, FEB. 13. The Japanese Special Representative for Sri Lanka's peace process, Yasushi Akashi, today cautioned the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against letting go the "enormous opportunity" to find a lasting solution to the decades-long separatist crisis.

Asked if he was optimistic of the two conflicting parties working together in the post-tsunami phase, Mr. Akashi said though they were "aware of the magnitude of the tragedy and the enormous opportunity," he was "not totally sanguine or optimistic." However, "I want to express the strongest hope that if they miss this chance, such a chance may not recur," Mr. Akashi said.

On his reading of the efforts by the Government and the Tigers to work out a joint mechanism to address post-tsunami reconstruction, Mr. Akashi said there were "still some remaining points to be thrashed out" by Colombo and the Tigers and that each side was "becoming somewhat impatient with the attitude taken by the other."

Mr. Akashi made these remarks at a press conference concluding his ninth visit to the island-nation as Tokyo's special representative. During his five-day visit, he met a cross-section of the Sri Lankan political leadership, including the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, the Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, and the Leader of the Opposition and former Premier, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Mr. Akashi also met the LTTE's political wing leader, S.P. Tamilchelvan, in a rebel-held area of the eastern Batticaloa district on Saturday and representatives from Tamil and Muslim political parties, the left-nationalist ruling ally, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and key diplomats in Colombo.

``Distressing''

On the recent killing of the LTTE's political wing leader for Batticaloa-Amparai, E. Kousalyan, Mr. Akashi said that since last year's rebellion by the former LTTE special commander, V. Muralitharan (`Col.' Karuna), "66 killings have taken place in Batticaloa and Amparai" and "only one case has been resolved" as it took place inside a prison. "These are distressing figures," Mr. Akashi said, but added, "I don't think the situation is out of hand." The donor countries, he said, "are concerned," but "that is no reason to stop or suspend assistance."

Referring to the killing of Kousalyan in his opening remarks, Mr. Akashi said: "I was very apprehensive that this may come as a dark shadow and be inimical to the peace process." During his meetings with the Government and the rebels, he had "cautioned everybody concerned that there should be no repetition of any incident of this kind so that the peace process can be intact." Colombo, he said, had "asserted" that neither the "government nor the armed forces had anything to do with this incident." On the stalled peace talks that has not resumed since the March 2003 unilateral pullout by the LTTE, Mr. Akashi made a distinction between the peace negotiations and the peace process and said: "it is a matter of comfort that the ceasefire agreement exists and the peace process continues."

The distribution of the post-tsunami international aid, he hoped, would be "on the basis of real priorities" and on "the principles of equity, transparency and efficiency."

Mr. Akashi also expressed the hope that the efforts by the Government and the Tigers to work out a joint mechanism "can be reached at the earliest, so that aid can flow." Echoing sentiments similar to those expressed by the LTTE leader, V. Prabakaran, on the devastation caused by the tsunami in the northern and eastern districts, Mr. Akashi said the "first tsunami came with 20 years of war," and the residents of the areas were "doubly hit - by the war and the tsunami."

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