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LTTE suspends participation in Geneva talks

V.S. Sambandan

Wants Lanka Govt. to remove "hurdles"

COLOMBO: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Sunday announced suspending participation in the second round of the Geneva talks "until hurdles" placed before it by the Sri Lankan Government were removed and "a more conducive environment" was created for the negotiations.

Referring to the stand off between Colombo and the Tigers on Saturday over sea transport, the LTTE's political wing leader, S.P. Tamilselvan, informed the facilitator, Norway: "Until the hurdles in front of us to attend the Geneva talks are removed and a more conducive environment is created, our team is unable to come to the talks."

The second round of the Geneva talks were originally scheduled for April 19-21. Last week, following a stand off between the Government and the rebels, the talks were postponed to April 24 and 25. The Geneva talks are to discuss implementation issues of the ceasefire agreement (CFA).

The LTTE's announcement was made in a letter to the Norwegian envoy to Sri Lanka, Hans Brattskar on Sunday.

"The LTTE's latest position has placed not only the Geneva talks, but also the ceasefire agreement under pressure. The recent events were a precursor to this move," a political analyst told The Hindu . The suspension of the CFA talks comes in the wake of escalated violence in Sri Lanka's north and east.

In his letter, Mr. Tamilselvan wanted the facilitators to "pressure the Government to implement the ceasefire agreement in letter and in spirit, to implement in particular what was agreed at the [first round of] the Geneva talks, and to prevent it from altering the practices already put in place."

Earlier on Sunday, the Sri Lankan Government's peace secretariat gave details of the procedures in place for Saturday's sea travel and said "it had displayed extreme flexibility to facilitate the movement of 32 LTTE leaders in the face of provocation by the LTTE" in order "to encourage the LTTE attend the peace talks in Geneva."

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