No indications of LTTE coming for talks - Peace Secretariat Chief

Manjula Fernando

COLOMBO: There had not been any official communique from the LTTE expressing their desire for returning to the negotiating table, Peace Secretariat Chief and Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona said yesterday.

“The Government’s stance over the peaceful resolution of the ethnic issue still stands, but there are no indications of concrete moves towards resuming peace talks,” Dr. Kohona told the Daily News.

Asked whether there were fresh moves to revive the peace talks, he said other than some newspaper reports quoting the LTTE of their wish for talks, they have not seen any official communique from the Tigers. He observed that the LTTE has responded with terrorism and violence to the Government’s repeated calls during the last 14 months for negotiations to achieve honourable and sustainable peace.

“It is a fact. The Government had been asking the LTTE to return to the negotiating table for the past 14 months,” Dr. Kohona said.

He said the President had been quite clear with regard to the stance of the Government where he was on record that they were committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and ready for talks with the LTTE.

The Peace Secretariat Chief said it was the LTTE which withdrew from the talks in Geneva last year. It also kept away from attending the discussions even after travelling all the way to Oslo.

Norwegian embassy sources also confirmed that there were no new efforts to revive the talks, when asked if there were any offers or efforts towards this end. Norway is the facilitator in the Sri Lankan peace process.