Political proposals ready next month-FM

US: Constitutional reforms aimed at ending three decades of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka could be finalised as early as next month, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said here yesterday.

"We are expecting it to be ready by April, the political process to come up with definite proposals for a political solution - the constitutional reforms," he told AFP in an interview in Washington ahead of talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday.

He said that an all-party consultative committee had emerged with several proposed constitutional reforms to be refined into a "final" plan "within a few weeks from now," setting the stage for what could be devolution of power in Sri Lanka.

"These are matters I would be able to impress upon the Secretary of State in terms of our political direction," Bogollagama said.

He did not say how President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration is going to forge what many consider a difficult consensus among the various political parties on the mechanics of sharing power.

Asked what would be the basis for a political solution, Bogollagama said, "devolution as a means towards which we can address the concerns of all communities." He pointed out that Colombo was prepared to go beyond the existing constitution to achieve the goal.

There could be "several forms" under which devolution could be structured, he said citing particularly what is popularly known as the "13th Amendment" to the constitution made under an Indo-Sri Lankan accord signed in July 1987.

Bogollagama said if the amendment under which the Sri Lankan Government agreed to devolve some authority to the provinces "fell short" of expectations, "we have to look at how we can go beyond that."

"Therefore there is a conscious approach by the Government of Sri Lanka" to bring about a political solution - a "home grown" solution addressing "all concerns," he said.

Bogollagama, who took over as foreign minister in January, stressed that the island's peace process was not dead despite an upsurge in fighting.

He also rejected any notion that the Sri Lankan Government was aiming for a military solution to the conflict.

"We are still prepared to talk with the LTTE," the minister said. "We have proposals now to talk about a sustainable peace agenda we are pursuing and the LTTE should be part of that.

We want to make LTTE stakeholders in the ultimate resolution," he said.Direct peace negotiations stalled in October last year. Bogollagama denied that the military was on a sustained military offensive against the Tigers. "We never had a military offensive, just limited engagement sometimes in retaliation to LTTE strikes on our bases and other times to clear certain areas for humanitarian work to continue, for the safety of the people and security," he said.

"But not to have a operation in terms of ousting the LTTE and in terms of a military engagement because the solution to the problem doesn't lie in a military option but in a constitution process and for that, we need the political process to proceed," he said.

On persistent reports that Colombo was not happy with Oslo's peacemaking role, Bogollagama likened it to Sri Lanka's popular sport of cricket.

"It's like a game of cricket. If you don't score (runs), the public will not be happy," he said, adding that the Norwegians could "score better" as "ground conditions on the LTTE have improved."

Bogollagama also rejected calls for a UN human rights monitoring mission to deter and help investigate abuses by both Government Forces and the Tigers amid reports of deaths and injuries to hundreds of civilians and the displacement of thousands more in recent months.

There are already many panels investigating the alleged abuses and "let us see the outcome of these," he said.

(AFP)