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by Ranga Jayasuriya

The LTTE's internal discussions on the Government's Interim Administrative proposals will continue till the end of this month, a LTTE spokesman said.

"Internal deliberations will continue till the end of August and we will come out with counterproposals hopefully by early September," a LTTE spokesman for its Kilinochchi political headquarters told the Daily News.

He said a consultative committee headed by LTTE international advisor V. Rudrakumar is now studying the Government proposals and working out counter proposals. According to the spokesman, the Tigers have decided on a procedure for resettlement in the High Security Zones to be included in the counter proposals. "We need to work out a program on the resettlement in the High Security Zones," he said. "An agreement on this regard is important to address the concerns of thousands of internally displaced people". Thamilselvam was reported to have articulated the same idea when he met Government officials during his visit to the East last week.

Meanwhile, following Ottawa's reluctance to accommodate the LTTE consultative committee members, Paris and Berlin are tipped to be the venues for the committee meeting to finalise the counter proposals, according to the LTTE sources. "The initial idea was to go to Canada, but Canada was somewhat reluctant to host the meeting."

An AFP report said French authorities had expressed willingness to help organize a LTTE consultative committee meeting. However, France denied reports that it would host a fresh round of negotiations between the Government and the LTTE.

"We are just talking about facilitating the logistics for a meeting in which we would not participate," French foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous was quoted by AFP. "French authorities have not received any requests for the organisation of a meeting between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan authorities," he said.

Thamilselvam was earlier expected to fly to London to meet LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham and LTTE lawyers to discuss the Government's IA proposals. But the visit became a non event, when the British High Commission in Colombo announced that it would reject visa application in a case of Thamilselvam applying, pointing to the LTTE's designation as a foreign terrorist organisation in Britain. Paris is tipped to be a venue for the LTTE committee meeting due to its proximity to London which could make travelling easy for the London-based ailing Balasingham.

Ambassador Westborg July 17 flew to Kilinochchi with the Government's latest proposals for a Provisional Administrative Council for the North-East. Thamilselvam last week said that the proposals have several "shortcomings" and the Tigers would come out with counter proposals for them.

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