International   

LTTE must cease violence: Colombo

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Government vows to counter provocative action

COLOMBO: Hours after the Government announced new round of talks with the LTTE in Switzerland on October 28 and 29, Sri Lanka Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva who is head of the Government Peace Negotiating Team demanded, "the LTTE must also immediately cease all acts of violence."

According to the Information Department web site, the Minister claimed that while the Government has always abided by its commitments and undertakings, the LTTE has repeatedly and blatantly violated their commitments and undertakings. He said theGovernment would engage in the talks.

At the same time he made it known that the Government "reserved its right to adopt all appropriate counter measurers" should the LTTE undertake any actions of an offensive and provocative nature.

He maintained that the Norwegian facilitators agreed to convey the issues raised by the Government to the LTTE. Norwegian Peace Envoy Hansen Bauer and Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar flew to Kilinochchi with the Government offer for peace talks after meeting Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and Government Peace Secretariat Chief Palitha Kohona in Colombo.

Mr. Hansen Bauer conveyed the LTTE's response to the Government Chief Negotiator on Wednesday on his return to Colombo.

Separately, the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and its arch opponent, the United National Party (UNP) announced that they would enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) before October 15 for a joint mechanism on a seven-point common programme.

It covers areas like approach towards resolution of ethnic conflict, electoral reforms and good governance.

The development could lead to isolation of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) that has launched an aggressive street campaign in recent weeks seeking ouster of Norway as the facilitator of peace talks as well as abrogation of the cease fire pact.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

LTTE must cease violence: Colombo
Thai martial law to continue
Neighbours warn N. Korea on test
Rockets defused near Parliament
The buzz in Frankfurt
The language police in Malaysia
Texas standoff ends
Turkish author on trial
Premier approved
Pakistan watching Afzal case
`Kanishka' bombing: racism alleged in response
India not reciprocating, says Mirwaiz
Ban on child labour welcomed

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu