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Second round of peace talks : Top Army officer to accompany delegation

by Manjula Fernando and Rajmi Manatunga

A high ranking officer of the Sri Lankan Army and two officials from the Peace Secretariat will accompany the Sri Lankan delegation to the second round of peace talks in Thailand from October 31 to November 3, Cabinet spokesman Prof. G. L. Peiris told the weekly media conference yesterday.

The trio will function in an advisory capacity at the talks which will also see two additions from the LTTE side, also as advisors.

The composition of the main delegation from the Sri Lankan Government will however, remain the same as the preliminary round in Sattahip. They are Prof. G. L. Peiris (head of the delegation), Ministers Milinda Moragoda and Rauf Hakeem and the Peace Secretariat Director General Bernard Gunatilleke.

The military officer included in the delegation is Major General Shantha Kottegoda while John Guneratne and Chanaka Jayasekera from the Peace Secretariat will complete the Sri Lankan contingent.

The venue for the second round talks will be the Rose Garden Holiday Resort at Nakompathon, 40 kilometres off Bangkok.

Prof. Peiris said that several themes including the establishment of a Joint Task Force (JTF), continuation of Ceasefire Agreement and humanitarian issues such as the resettlement and de-mining work are likely to dominate the talks which will be closely watched by international donors.

"The Norwegian delegation who were here last week held discussions with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several ministers before proceeding to Kilinochchi to meet the LTTE leadership. They briefed the Premier of the outcome of Kilinochchi discussions there after. One of the main topics of their discussions had been finalising the setting up of Joint Task force." Prof. Peiris said that government was pleased with the preparatory work on the Task Force upon which the Oslo conference will be structured. He said the JTF will comprise three government officials and three LTTE representatives and it will be finalised at the second round talks in Nakompathon.

The LTTE has included two new representatives in their delegation to Thailand, its political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan and special Commander for the Batticaloa-Ampara District Karuna. They will be joined by LTTE's legal advisor V. Rudrakumar and a rehabilitation and Development expert Dr. Jay Maheswaran who were part of the Sattahip delegation led by chief negotiator Dr. Anton Balasingham.

The presence of the additional delegates on the LTTE side would help in sorting out issues pertaining to the security matters in the Eastern Province which experienced unrest in recent days, he said.

Adele Balasingham will function as Secretary to the negotiating team.

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