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US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ashley Wills, in an interview with Reuters, urged the LTTE to return to the negotiating table.The Tigers's goal should be to make peace, and quickly. Too much blood has been spilled, too many opportunities for forgiveness missed. If I may quote an Indian politician: "It's impossible to shake hands with a clenched fist." And I might add that it's hard to shake hands with one's back turned, Wills told Reuters.

The full text of the interview follows:

Question: What is the U.S. reaction to the Tigers' pull-out from the talks? Answer: We regret the decisions by the LTTE to suspend its participation in the Sri Lankan peace talks and not to attend the Tokyo Donors Conference scheduled for June.

We've reviewed carefully the ostensible reasons for these decisions cited in Mr. Balasingham's letter to the PM. We do not find them convincing. A well-intentioned party that truly wants a peaceful, political settlement to Sri Lanka's conflict could deal with such grievances at the negotiating table.

I'm not saying I don't understand Tamil frustration over certain issues, but people must remember that the war is not conclusively and officially over. High-security zones, resettlement, development - these are all issues that need to be negotiated and dealt with. But if the LTTE wants to represent Tamil interests, it has to participate in the negotiations, not walk away from them. We call on the Tigers to reconsider and to return to the negotiating track.

We also call on the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka to honour the terms of the ceasefire even while talks are suspended.

In the meantime, this interregnum in the talks could prove useful by giving both parties the opportunity to recommit themselves to negotiations. We have strongly supported the ceasefire even though we have also acknowledged it hasn't been implemented perfectly. Blame for this does not fall exclusively on the side of the Government, however, as the LTTE's statement suggested.

The Tigers, too, bear heavy responsibility for numerous breaches of the ceasefire.

While the talks are suspended, we urge the LTTE to reflect carefully on its own transgressions. Assassinations of opponents, intimidation of Muslims, taxation without representation, aggressive Sea Tiger behaviour and continued child recruitment do not build trust in the LTTE's intentions.

We continue to believe that the way out of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict is through negotiations facilitated by the Government of Norway. And for our part we remain willing to do whatever we can to assist Sri Lanka as it tries to bring an end to this ugly war.

Q: What about the charge the LTTE makes that Tamils are seeing no development, no peace dividend?

A: We think that expectations in Sri Lanka - in the North and in the South too - are way too high regarding economic development. Patience is in order. Tamils, Sinhalese, indeed all Sri Lankans must understand that economic development takes time and unfolds most quickly in conditions of lasting peace.

And Sri Lanka doesn't yet live in conditions of permanent peace. I don't mean to sound condescending, but sometimes I get the impression that some people in Sri Lanka expect an economic miracle now. Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither will Kilinochchi, or Trinco, or Hambantota be developed as quickly as we would all like.

I obviously don't speak for all the donors, but it is my impression that many programmes are already under way in Sri Lanka's North and east. For example, demining, by the U.S. and others, is under way and other developmental activities are happening as well. So to allege that nothing is going on is unfair. And to suggest that conditions haven't improved distorts the truth.

It is also my impression that Sri Lanka's friends intend to be a lot more generous, and they intend to see that their money reaches undeveloped, deserving areas of the North and East - because that's where the devastation has been greatest - but also areas of the South.

Balasingham's letter makes it sound like it was only the mismanagement of previous Colombo governments that impoverished the South of Sri Lanka, and that the devastation of the North and East is all Colombo's fault. That's ludicrous.

Successive governments down here in the South have made many mistakes, that's certain, but if blame is being distributed fairly, the LTTE deserves a great deal as well. Its pursuit of an extreme, separatist agenda, by violent means, has cost Sri Lanka's North and East, but the rest of Sri Lanka too, thousands of lives and 20 years of peaceful development. Let us not forget that we need to undo the damage caused by some two decades of war and terror and even more years of failed economic policies. That will not be done overnight.

I should also point out that it is my sense that Sri Lanka's donors are properly modest about the impact of their assistance. It will be substantial, yes, and in certain areas it may be decisive in improving people's lives. But we donors know that in general foreign assistance can only be catalytic.

The biggest difference in economic terms will be made by national and local governments' adopting the right policies. And in today's world, my government believes that the right policies are those that favour the private sector and individual initiative.

Government has its role - in educating people, in building infrastructure, in helping the poorest people, in protecting individual and property rights - but it is Sri Lanka's own people, engaged in business dealings with one another and with outsiders - who will make this country rich.

On this important point, it would be a good thing for the LTTE to declare its intentions. The Sri Lankan Government must do a much better job of delivering services and assistance. It's way too slow and bureaucratic. We are not blind to the faults of the Colombo Government. But what is the LTTE's economic ideology? Is it going to try to control everything? Is it hoping to pursue autarkic policies that isolate the North and East from the rest of Sri Lanka? I'm confident the donors will not agree with that. Or is it going to accept that the best way to help the Tamil people is to connect them to the rest of Sri Lanka and let their phenomenal talents find expression and wealth in a richer,wider context.

Q: You seem pretty sceptical about the LTTE. What can the Tigers do to find acceptance?

A: The Tigers want to be treated respectfully and seriously. My government understands that. But as our Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, said recently, we can see a legitimate political role for the LTTE provided it renounces terrorism and violence. The time for fighting has long since passed. The LTTE's leadership likes to portray itself as brave. Well, a truly courageous thing would be for that leadership to give up violence and even the threat of violence and push for a permanent peace now.

I've heard Tamils say that they may not like the LTTE's tactics but they need the Tigers to protect them. I think that's completely wrong. The outlines of a settlement have been pretty clear for years, at least since the mid-90's. Some sort of devolution of power that gives Sri Lanka's North and East - merged or not - considerable autonomy is in order. Call it internal self-determination if you like. Call it federalism if you like. But Sri Lanka should remain united. And be diverse and democratic.

Local governments likely will matter more than they do now. That's the best way to protect Tamil and Sinhala and Muslim rights and, most of all, individual rights. The LTTE's weapons and armed cadre aren't protecting Tamil rights; they're prolonging this conflict and delaying the day when Tamils can live in truly peaceful conditions.

And now that the world is paying attention to Sri Lanka as never before, the international community will be watching closely to see that no one's rights get abused systematically once a final settlement is done.

If the LTTE wants respect, it should accept this and engage the Government to settle on the terms for a new Sri Lanka. It should not pull out of the talks. And it should go to Tokyo. It doesn't want to miss this opportunity to represent the Tamil people, to be identified with the decisions that are coming that will apportion donor money.

If Tamils are leery of Colombo-based governments, if they fear that they will be double-crossed - and I can understand why some Tamils would have such apprehensions - then the LTTE should be engaging, not suspending. If the LTTE makes positive moves, my government will acknowledge them and respond. But a truly warm American and international reaction can only come when the LTTE renounces terrorism and violence.

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