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| Saturday, 31 January 2004 |
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OSLO, Friday (AFP) -Norway, which plays a key role in the Sri Lankan peace process as facilitator, urged donor countries to continue their economic aid to the island despite the current political situation. "Donors have their conditionality principles. It is a question if they should be applied in this particular situation," Norwegian mediator Vidar Helgesen told reporters after meeting a LTTE delegation in Oslo. The peace process has been a precondition for donors' economic aid. Donor countries pledged 4.5 billion dollars in aid to Sri Lanka over a period of four years in Tokyo in June. "Our line of reasoning is that while there are no peace talks going on now, there is still a ceasefire agreement and it's holding. So there is a peace process. The peace process and the ceasefire agreement can only be underpinned if there is increased economic aid and economic development," Helgesen said. He said the donor countries who attended the Tokyo conference - the European Union, Japan, Norway and the United States - would meet in Washington on February 17 to discuss the question of economic aid. The island nation needs money for minesweeping operations, trauma care and the construction of schools and health clinics, Helgesen stressed. "There is no indication about when talks could resume because that depends entirely on the President and the Prime Minister agreeing on who is in charge of the peace process on the government side," Helgesen said. "So we can do nothing more in terms of bringing the parties back to the table," he said. The LTTE delegation, led by the group's political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan, is expected to continue its European tour with visits to Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands. |
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