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by Rajmi Manatunga

The National Bhikkhu Convention yesterday called upon the government to retain the ban on the LTTE and remove the issue of interim administration from the agenda of Thailand peace talks which they cited as the formulation of two separate administration in Sri Lanka.

Briefing the media at the Dharmavijaya Foundation, Colombo, Chairman of the Convention Ven Ellavala Medhananda thera said the government has fulfilled the wishes of Prabhakaran through the current peace process.

"Our country, nation and the Buddha Sasana is in danger today due to the false peace process initiated by the government. We do not want to sabotage the government's efforts to achieve peace but the Buddhist clergy are not ready to believe that genuine peace could be ushered in when the LTTE has not withdrawn its demands for a separate homeland and self determination," he said.

He requested Lankans to oppose the government's decision to deproscribe the LTTE. "What Prabhakaran tries to do through the de-ban is to pressurise the international community to lift their ban in United States, Canada etc."

"The proposed interim administration will definitely cause a division of the country. The Prime Minister has assured that the Interim administration will be established according to the constitution, but it will certainly lead to the formulation of an illegal Eelam," the Thera said adding that the government will have to set up interim administrations for Muslims and upcountry Tamils as well.

The Convention also claimed that the present government complies with all needs of the LTTE and charged that the government was trying to resettle war refugees from Tamil Nadu in the South while failing to help Sinhalese refugees.

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