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Colombo rules out parity status

V.S. Sambandan

Sri Lanka refutes Tigers' claim to represent Tamils

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera has ruled out "parity of status" between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"I want to make it crystal clear that there can never be any "parity of status" between a legitimate, democratically elected Government and a group practising terror that has yet to renounce violence or show any willingness to enter the democratic process," Mr. Samaraweera said.

Addressing the Norwegian Parliament on June 14, he said "parity of status" could "only be useful for logistical reasons and facilitating discussions when the Government and the LTTE are sitting across the table."

Mr. Samaraweera's statement gains significance against the backdrop of recent demands by the LTTE for such status on issues beyond negotiations, such as right over sea and airspace.

Refutes LTTE's assertion

The LTTE's demand was also reflected in its June 9 communiqué from Oslo after it rejected a meeting with a Government delegation to discuss issues relating to the role of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) — which oversees the ceasefire agreement.

The Government's Peace Secretariat on Sunday refuted the rebel group's recent assertions on the existence of a "de facto state of Tamil Eelam" and that it was the "authentic representative" and "sole interlocutor" of the Tamils.

"Neither the Government nor any other member of the International Community recognises a "de facto State of Tamil Eelam".

It termed the LTTE's administration as "rudimentary and despotic, devoid of the rule of law and democracy and monolithic and intolerant of dissent." Moreover, the "writ of the Sri Lankan state runs in the areas that the LTTE claims to control," the Government said.

It pointed out that "provincial and local government institutions and other delivery mechanisms," were providing the basic amenities in these areas.

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