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| Tuesday, 13 January 2004 |
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LTTE willing to negotiate with President or PM - Thamilselvan LTTE Political Wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan said yesterday that it did not matter who the LTTE negotiated with, as long as that person had a mandate to make peace. "It does not matter if it is the executive President or the legislative Prime Minister, it is only the power that the person holds, the mandate the person holds," he told Reuters. Thamilselvan said the fate of the peace process was in the hands of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. "It all depends on the government and the military machine of the government to ensure that the Tamil people are not pushed towards such a situation to take up arms ever again," he said. Thamilselvan added the patience of the Tamil people was wearing thin. "The anticipation is now beginning to dwindle and at a time when the people become restless, then the responsibility of the organisation is such that we have definitely to respond to the feelings of the people," Thamilselvan said. He said the LTTE, accused of breaking four previous truces, would not be the first to break the current ceasefire. "There is a resolute commitment of the Liberation Tigers organisation that the Liberation Tigers will not be the ones to commence it," he said through a translator outside his headquarters in Kilinochchi. Despite their willingness to negotiate with either leader, Thamilselvan cautioned that while the political crisis drags on, Tamils were starting to lose hope of a return to normalcy. "But it is not prudent at this stage to spell out what eventually will happen at that stage when the people lose their patience," Thamilselvan said. |
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