Government response to five questions today - Rambukwella

Rashomi Silva

COLOMBO: The Government will hand over its response to Norway's five questions today, Plan Implementation Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

The questions sought clarification vis-a-vis matters relating to the Ceasefire Agreement and modalities of monitoring activities.

The Minister asserted that the responses to the five questions will most likely be positive. "We have no reason to disagree or to object to any of the issues the facilitator has raised," he said, Asked to comment on a Defence Ministry website report on the Government's invitation to the LTTE for direct talks he said the invitation shows the Government's willingness to have negotiations option open.

"We are even willing to have direct talks with the LTTE, or even to get assistance form the other member of Co-Chairs to get the talks started," he said.

"The Government is ready to have direct talks with LTTE despite the unpleasant experience in Oslo last week," the website quoted Dr. Palitha Kohona, the Peace Secretariat chief as saying.

Rambukwella added that the Government has another issue to raise with Norway. "What we are concerned about is the facilitator's request to grant diplomatic immunity to the truce monitors. The request went both to the Government and to the LTTE. It is only a sovereign Government that can provide diplomatic immunity and not the LTTE," he said.

However Keheliya stressed the issue of national security was non- negotiable.

"The option of negotiations is still open, but even for the sake of resuming talks we are not going to undertake any action that might be detrimental to national security," the Minister said.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry website threw suspicions over the LTTE's motives behind the Norwegian tour in Europe. "It might have been for other reasons the LTTE wanted to visit Oslo," the website said.