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| Saturday, 18 October 2003 |
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LTTE to propose home grown interim rule by Ranga Jayasuriya The LTTE in its counter proposals has focused on the conflict resolution process in various parts of the world and emphasised interim arrangements suited to the Sri Lankan context, LTTE Political Chief Thamilselvam has told Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen. The LTTE team led by Thamilselvam met Norwegian Foreign Minister on Thursday afternoon in Oslo to update the Norwegian facilitators of the LTTE counter proposals, a LTTE spokesman said. The LTTE team which is due in Wanni today will submit its proposals to the movement's leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. "We (the LTTE) paid attention to the conflict resolution process in various parts of the world with special emphasis on the interim arrangements that were put in place prior to a final solution of the conflict in the Sri Lankan context and the ceasefire," Thamilselvam was quoted as saying in the LTTE's official website. Thamilselvam said the LTTE found that certain "amendments" are necessary to its counterproposals worked out at an earlier meeting in the French Capital. He said in Dublin the Tigers studied the Bougainvillae peace process and the national reconciliation process in South Africa. The LTTE is expected to submit its counter proposals by the end of this month. Meanwhile an Oslo dateline AFP report quoted special peace envoy Erik Solheim as saying that the Sri Lankan peace process is evolving slowly but in the right direction. Solheim and the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen on Wednesday met the LTTE political team. "It took a lot of time for the war in Sri Lanka to break out ... and the peace process will also take a lot of time. But though it is progressing slowly and in stages, it is going in the right direction," Solheim told reporters following the meeting . The LTTE proposal is a "historic event because the Tamil Tigers have never before presented a global proposal or thought about how to resolve the conflict," Solheim said. "It takes time to do that ... that is something that everyone understands, including the Lankan government," he said. Meanwhile the Norwegian facilitators are planning to hold a preliminary round of talks between the Government and the LTTE before the two sides return to the formal talks. Cabinet Spokesman Prof.G.L. Peiris said the meeting will be aimed at deciding the time frame of the interim Administration and the format of the future rounds of peace talks including the participation of a Muslim delegation. Meanwhile, visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham urged the LTTE to make reasonable power-sharing proposals which will resume the stalled peace talks. Visiting Jaffna, Graham called on the Tigers to return to peace negotiations. "There is a desire for peace all through the island. This desire has to be met by a political arrangement to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of all people," Graham said. "I believe the LTTE should put forward reasonable proposals at the end of this month." Graham repeated a call made by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that the Tigers should give up child recruitment and political killings. Despite rigorous campaigning by Canadian Tamil lobbies for him to meet Prabhakaran in the Wanni, Graham who maintains close ties with the 200,000 strong expatriate Tamil population in Canada ruled out a meeting with the Tiger chief. "This is not the right time for a meeting them (LTTE)," a Canadian High Commission spokeswoman earlier told the Daily News. Graham, accused of links with pro-LTTE Tamil lobbies was once the centre of controversy when he attended a fundraising dinner organised by an LTTE front organisation in Toronto. |
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