CFA talks:

Govt awaiting Furuhovde

by Manjula Fernando

The Government said yesterday there will be no further response on its side with regard to the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) talks venue as it has already agreed to have talks at the BIA.

Peace Secretariat Deputy Director General John Gunaratne said they were awaiting the facilitator's next step. They are hopeful that the retired Major Gen. Trond Furuhovde's visit will have some impact on solving the issue.

He said there was a debate on the venue for the past three weeks and finally the Government agreed to a proposal made by the facilitator.

The Norwegian government last week said they were deeply concerned by the continuing violence in Sri Lanka over the past months.

In a release issued by its Foreign Affairs Ministry, Norway expressed regret that the LTTE rejected its proposal for a venue for talks to discuss implementation of the ceasefire agreement despite its efforts for the past three weeks to get the two parties for a compromise.

In this backdrop it has made arrangements to send a special representative Major.Gen. Furuhovde, the former SLMM Chief to Sri Lanka next month to consult both parties on the security situation and the implementation of the CFA.

LTTE at a meeting with SLMM Chief and the Norwegian Ambassador last Thursday, rejected the peace facilitator's suggestion to hold CFA talks at Katunayake, citing security reasons.Government Spokesman and Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva commenting on the LTTE rejection on Friday, disproved of any security concerns saying the LTTE leaders have spent long hours at the BIA on many occasions while travelling abroad.

Meanwhile, the co-chairs USA, EU, UK and Norway will meet in New York on September 19 to discuss strengthening respect for the CFA in this increasingly difficult security situation.