The Hindu : National : Ranil wants political package

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Thursday, Nov 20, 2008
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Ranil wants political package

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The former Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has called for a political package to the strife-torn island that is acceptable to all political parties but felt that a ceasefire at this point may not be realistic.

Mr. Wickremesinghe expressed these sentiments during meetings with senior political leaders and officials during his stay here.

Mr. Wickremesinghe, who signed the ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) in 2002, now thinks that a truce at this stage would not help improve the situation but he suggested primacy to a political package, said the sources.

He was of the opinion that measures to ameliorate the grievances of the Tamil population would provide some scope for bringing down the curtains on a conflict that consumed the island nation for over two decades, said sources.

Mr. Wickremesinghe interacted with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.

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