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Second round of talks: Focus on Joint Task Force

By Rodney Martinesz

The second round of peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Thailand will focus on building a Joint Task Force (JTF) of the two parties to guide the reconstruction of the North and East.

The talks start on Thursday and the first batch of delegates leave for Thailand today.

The second round will see the parties getting down to the nitty gritty of getting the economy of the war ravaged areas running again. Both sides have decided to postpone the discussion of power sharing and focus primarily on providing a peace dividend to the people.

The opening round held at the Naval base at Sattahip in Thailand drew worldwide headlines particularly after the LTTE declared that it had shelved the idea of a separate state. The next round will also be keenly watched by the international community, particularly countries which have pledged aid to Sri Lanka.

At the talks for the first time will be military men from both warring parties. Major General Shantha Kottegoda, who led the campaign to wrest the A-9 from the LTTE and the Tigers' military commander from the East Karuna will sit across the table.

The LTTE delegation will also see for the first time the inclusion of S.P. Tamilchelvam, the political head of the organization who is based in Kilinochchi. At the first round the LTTE was represented entirely by Sri Lankan Tamils based overseas.

The contingent leaving today comprise Director General of the Peace Secretariat Bernard Gunatiklake, Major General Kottegoda, Dr.John Gunaratne and Chanaka Jayasekera. They will fly to Bangkok and thereafter leave for the Rose Garden Resort in Nakorn Pathom Province, 32 kilometres west of the Thai Capital.

They will be joined the next day by Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, Chief of the Sri Lankan delegation accompanied by Ministers Rauf Hakeem and Milinda Moragoda representing the same team that went for the Sattahip talks.

There was no confirmation whether the LTTE delegation comprising Chief negotiator Anton Balasingham, Thamilchelvam, Karuna, Rehabilitation coordinator Dr. Jay Maheshwaran and legal Advisor V. Rudrakumar and Mrs. Adele Balasingham would travel with the Sri Lankan team or separately.

According to Norwegian Embassy sources, Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen was due to fly from New York to Bangkok in time for the talks. He will be joined by Erik Solheim and Norway's envoy to Sri Lanka Jon Westborg.

Helgesen who led a Norwegian delegation here last week also held discussions with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe before meeting the LTTE leaders in Kilinochchi.

Minister Peiris addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing said several themes including the establishment of the JTF, continuation of the ceasefire agreement and humanitarian issues such as resettlement and de-mining were likely to dominate the talks.

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