Archives

by Amal Jayasinghe

SATTAHIP, Thailand, (AFP) Norwegians took more than five years to bring Sri Lanka's warring parties to a table here, but after three days of talks, the Thai tryst is turning into a watershed in the island's peace bid.

The Norwegian peace brokers had played down expectations when the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched their formal talks at a naval base here on Monday. However, after three days of closed-door talks, Tigers stunned the peace delegates and their people back home with a major policy shift.

Even the Sri Lankan negotiators had not expected the Tigers to abandon their decades-old campaign for outright independence and accept "regional autonomy and self-government" so quickly.

LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham announced at the end of their first round of talks Wednesday that they were not campaigning for Tamil Eelam - their name for an independent state in the island's northeast. Diplomatic sources saw the development as a watershed in Sri Lanka's attempts to end three decades of ethnic violence that had claimed more than 60,000 lives and devastated the island nation's economy. Another bonus for the Sri Lankan government was the Tigers' agreeing to three more rounds of talks here between October and January to discuss arrangements for an interim administration and rehabilitation.

Tigers also return home having won a "joint task force" to monitor and implement humanitarian work and mine clearing in areas controlled by them in the island's northeast. The Tigers made it clear they wanted a slice of the rehabilitation pie and said they saw nothing wrong in their fighters being deployed to take part in a new administrative set-up in war ravaged areas.

They made a joint appeal for increased foreign aid.

"We were not expecting any decision as such from the talks but what has emerged is really very welcome news," a Sri Lankan source said. "The peace process has undoubtedly been strengthened."

The unexpected success of the first round of talks could have implications for Sri Lanka's uneasy cohabitation government.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga is opposed to the handling of the peace process by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who came to power in December promising talks with the Tigers and an end to the bloodshed.

However, even Kumaratunga could not ignore the LTTE's shift and the sudden boost to the peace process. "We wholeheartedly welcome their stance," said a spokesman for Kumaratunga in Colombo while commenting on the Tiger policy shift.

But the spokesman, Harim Peiris, cautioned that the Tigers' statement must be fully studied before the president would give a more formal reaction.

The key concession by the LTTE in renouncing their separatist goals could weaken opposition to the peace process from hard-line elements, analysts said.

The influential Buddhist clergy has already welcomed the latest developments from the three days of talks here despite apprehensions about the sincerity of the Tigers.

Four previous attempts to peacefully end Sri Lanka's ethnic strife ended in failure with both sides pointing fingers at each other. The latest peace bid is seen by Western diplomats as the best chance for peace in the island given the mood in the international community against terrorism.

The United States had hinted the global war against terrorism could be extended to the Tigers if they jeopardised an Norwegian-arranged ceasefire in place since February.

Asian diplomats said the success of the talks here was also a boost to Thailand's image in the international scene.

Thai Foreign Secretary Tej Bunnag had wished the "universally desired result of national reconciliation" in Sri Lanka when he welcomed both parties to the talks at a ceremony here Monday. "We believe that peace and harmony in Sri Lanka would contribute to peace and harmony in Asia."

Sri Lanka and Thailand have close Buddhist ties, but relations had been uneasy in recent years following Colombo's allegations that Tiger rebels were using Thai beaches for their gun running operations.

However, both Colombo and the Tigers accepted Thailand as a neutral venue in their search for peace in discussions with peace broker Norway earlier this year.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager