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LTTE to blame for violence: Colombo

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Tigers say fate of dialogue contingent upon implementation of Ceasefire Agreement

Photo: AFP

PEACE PARLEYS: LTTE political wing leader S. P. Thamilchelvan (left) shakes hands with the head of the Sri Lankan Government delegation, Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, while Norwegian Minister Erik Solheim looks on, at the opening of the peace talks in Geneva on Saturday.

COLOMBO: Head of the Sri Lankan delegation Nimal Siripala de Silva issued a 6,600-word statement at the inaugural of the peace talks in Geneva on Saturday, squarely blaming the Tamil Tigers for the current situation.

"The Government hopes that these talks will be the beginning of a productive dialogue and a fruitful exchange of views with all persons concerned on the many substantive issues relating to this conflict that has taken a massive toll on the people of the country.

Foremost among these issues are the restoration of democracy, political pluralism, meaningful devolution, human rights and economic development", he told the delegates.

Government blamed

In his 3,000-word counter, the LTTE political head and leader of the delegation, S. P. Thamilchelvan sought to hold the Sri Lankan Government responsible for the ground situation and declared the peace talks were contingent upon implementation of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA).

Seeking full implementation of the February 2002 CFA, Mr. Tamilchelvan said, "Such actions will bring normalcy in the lives of our people, and help in taking forward the peace process towards a satisfactory conclusion."

He told the conference, "The best we can hope for from the current talks is, therefore, the strengthening of the CFA agreement that has the potential to lead to a permanent, just peace in this island."

Hope of flexibility

AFP reports from Geneva:

In February, the parties met at Celigny, a town near here, and pledged to halt violence.

Instead, fighting escalated in Sri Lanka, forcing more than 2,50,000 persons to flee their homes, according to aid agencies.

``There may not be a dramatic outcome of the talks, but what is expected is to be able to agree on dates for future talks,'' a diplomat close to the process told AFP. ``We are looking at dates in December and January.''

Officials from both sides met informally over lunch on Friday for a preliminary round of talks, diplomats said.

They said government representative Palitha Kohona and his Tiger counterpart S. Puleedevan had lunch together with Norwegian envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer.

Sri Lanka's only woman negotiator, Fariel Ashraff, who also represents a minority Muslim party, said she expected both parties to show flexibility and compromise despite rigid positions taken publicly.

``We need to rebuild confidence,'' Ms. Ashraff said. ``The present atmosphere is not so good partly because of what is happening on the ground,'' she said referring to the escalation of violence in the past eight months.

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