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Geneva-II leads to uneasy calm

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Sporadic violence in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Amid reports of sporadic violence, uneasy calm prevailed in the island nation after the failure of the talks held by the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE in Geneva on October 28 and 29.

The military issued a statement denying media reports of heavy shelling in the Jaffna peninsula in the past 24 hours and maintained that its troops were only "responding to provocations" from LTTE cadres.

The Tamil Tigers, on their part, accused the military of fresh mobilisation in the peninsula and said any offensive would have consequences.

Colombo's stance

The LTTE's political head and leader of the delegation at the talks, S. P. Tamilchelvan, hinted at a news conference in Geneva that the militant organisation's leader, V. Prabhakaran, would spell out the group's next course of strategy in his annual speech due on November 25.

The delegates to Geneva-II from the Government side will hold a news conference on Tuesday to explain the thinking of the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government after the failure of the latest round of talks. Indications are the Government would focus, in the next few days, on the human crisis in the north and east.

Norwegian Facilitator Minister of International Development Erik Solheim, in a statement at the conclusion of talks, claimed that the parties had agreed that the peace process must address the human suffering, military de-escalation and reduction of violence and political components leading up to a political settlement.

"The LTTE requested the A9 [highway linking Jaffna with the rest of the country] to be opened. The Government refused to do so at this point. No agreement was reached between the parties on how to address the humanitarian crisis. No date for a new meeting was agreed upon. Norway will be in ongoing dialogue with the parties to discuss all possible ideas on how to move the peace process forward", he said.

Mr. Solheim said he encouraged the parties to allow themselves some time to reflect on the situation and not to draw hasty conclusions or take actions that could increase the sufferings of civilians in Sri Lanka.

In a statement, the Government said it was made known at the talks that Colombo would continue to supply all the needs of the Jaffna peninsula by a sea route.

"When the LTTE was asked to provide safety assurances for the ships, this was refused.

"The Government maintained that it would still make every effort to provide the Jaffna peninsula all its needs including food and other supplies using the sea route until such time that Muhamalai entry checkpoint of A9 route could be restored with adequate protection for the civilians. It was LTTE attacks in August which led to the closing of this entry point. The situation still remains insecure with the LTTE mounting daily attacks", it said.

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