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| Wednesday, 31 March 2004 |
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| Temporary absence of war is not peace - President From Ranil Wijayapala in Kuliyapitiya President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga yesterday said there was no peace in the country, though Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has boasted of establishing peace under the UNF government. "The temporary absence of war is not permanent peace", the President added. Addressing the United People's Freedom Alliance final election rally at the Kuliyapitiya Technical College grounds, the President said the LTTE has commenced assassinating people again, during the last few days. She said, though the UNF was boasting of opening of the A9 road to Jaffna, under the UNF regime, the Tamil people had not forgotten the reasons for the closing of the road. The President recalled that people in the North-East were undergoing severe hardships when the PA came to power in 1994 as the UNP government had banned 118 items of goods to the North East."The PA government lifted the ban on those goods, except for eight items which were considered detrimental", the President added. She said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has not even started discussions with the LTTE to find a solution to the problem, though he continued peace talks for several months. She said the Freedom Alliance will immediately invite the LTTE for discussions after assuming power. "We will continue those discussions openly, unlike Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the President added. She charged that neither the people of this country, the cabinet nor the parliament knew the agreements reached by Ranil Wickremesinghe with the LTTE. "Even as the Head of State I am not aware of those agreements", the President added. President Kumaratunga said the Freedom Alliance will be committed to resolve the North East problem through negotiations after having discussions with all sections of society, all Tamil groups, Muslims and majority Sinhalese. She said the final solution to the problem will be reached after considering the views of all sections of society. |
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