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Rajapakse convenes all-party meet

V.S. Sambandan

Foreign Minister calls for international action against LTTE, front organisations

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday convened an all-party meeting to discuss "the future course of action" to be adopted in the peace process.

The meeting is also to evolve a position seeking international support for Sri Lanka's peace moves, a senior Presidential source said.

Move for consensus

The all-party meeting, a part of the process initiated by Mr. Rajapakse to evolve a southern consensus on negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), met on Friday for the first time since Tuesday's attempt by the LTTE to assassinate the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka.

Briefing diplomats on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera called for "tangible and specific international actions against the LTTE and its front organisations if it continues to persist with suicide attacks and other terrorist acts against security forces and civilians."

Mr. Samaraweera "reiterated the Government's commitment to the ceasefire, even in the face of graver provocation from the LTTE." He described the military strikes on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning as "an act of deterrence, limited in time and scope."

He reiterated that the Government "continues to uphold and comply with the ceasefire." The UNHCR, in a statement said the overall situation "seems to have stabilised in most parts of the conflict zone" as of Friday afternoon.

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