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Thailand agrees to host talks

by Jayantha Sri Nissanka

Thailand yesterday agreed to host the historic face-to-face talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Norwegian-brokered talks, aimed at finding a lasting political solution to the North- East conflict, are expected to take place in May.

"However, the exact dates and venue had not yet been fixed. It will be decided by the two parties," diplomatic sources said.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando thanked the Thai Government for helping Sri Lanka to hold peace talks on their soil. "I wrote to Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai last week on behalf of Sri Lanka. We appreciate their co-operation."

Earlier, the LTTE had requested to hold peace talks in another country and had suggested India or the Maldives. However, the two countries had turned down the request.

Finally they suggested that talks be held in Thailand. Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen on a one day visit to Thailand yesterday met Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to discuss the issue.

After Helgesen's discussions with his Thai counterpart, the Thai Government agreed to the request.

"The royal Thai government has, on the request of the royal Norwegian government, accepted to provide the venue for negotiations between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE," Helgesen said after his meeting with Sathirathai.

Helgesen said Norway "highly appreciates Thailand's positive response and willingness to accommodate the negotiations."

But aside from providing a suitable setting, Thailand will not play a role in the talks, Surakiart told a press briefing.

"I am pleased to approve that Thailand will be the venue of the talks to create peace in the region, but Thailand would not be involved in the content of the talks," he said. This is the second time that a foreign venue has been chosen for peace talks.

The first was Thimpu in Bhutan in 1985. Subsequently, talks were held in Colombo in 1990 during President Premadasa's administration. Talks were held in Jaffna in 1994 when Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga became the President.

This is the first time a foreign facilitator - the government of Norway - has been involved in order to help the two parties to find a negotiated settlement.

The failure of early talks were attributed to different factors. Among them were lack of professionalism and the failure to grasp talks as a process of negotiations. "Compared to previous talks, the present negotiations were more professional specially due to the participation of Norwegians," Foreign diplomatic sources said.

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