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Thursday, Oct 26, 2006
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Let talks be held in a timeframe: Colombo

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Geneva 2 is not to please LTTE: Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Government said on Wednesday it would seek a definite timetable to engage the LTTE on seven identified subjects at the October 28 and 29 talks in Geneva.

Defence spokesman and Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told a news conference here that democracy, pluralism, human rights, child recruitment, development of north and east, multiparty system and devolution were the issues.

He said the Government was not going to Geneva to "please" the LTTE but to give it one more "chance" to get into the democratic process. "We recognise that LTTE is a ground reality and it can not be wished away."

Asked about the LTTE delegation statement before leaving for talks that they were going to Geneva only in deference to the wishes of the international community and would focus only on the Cease Fire Agreement and the human crisis, Mr. Rambukwella said the Tamil Tigers had not made any comments on the Government's seven-point agenda. The Minister said the Government was happy to note that it was after a very long break "Geneva 2" was taking place and hoped that the LTTE agrees for a timebound dialogue.

"The Tamil people do have real issues though I do not agree they have grievances. Issues were left un-addressed due to many factors and continued to be pushed out of focus. The Government is keen to resolve these issues and is studying a number of formulae, including the Indian panchayat system.

Window of opportunity

"Among the many formulae, the Government is also hoping to bring LTTE out of terrorism and into democracy. Therefore, these talks are the LTTE's window of opportunity to get into the mainstream of Sri Lankan politics," he said.

He said for many years, the LTTE argued that it was futile to hold talks with the Government in the absence of "southern consensus". "Up until now, LTTE did have a point as the ruling party was in a fragile state. However, now with the main Opposition political party entering into a MoU with the Government, the LTTE can no longer hold onto this excuse," he said.

To a question on the recent spate of abductions, the Minister said President Mahinda Rajapaksa had appointed a special task force to investigate each incident. He claimed that the rate of incidents had gone down and would hopefully be eliminated.

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