LTTE must lay down arms before talks - PM

The Government will not enter into negotiations with the LTTE until and unless it lays down arms and renounces all forms of violence, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka has said.

Prime Minister Wickramanayaka has stated this at a meeting with New Zealand's new High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Rupert Hall on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister stated that the Government was fully committed to ensure the rights of the Tamil people, but the LTTE which claims to be the sole representative of Tamil people was destroying their rights. The Government will leave no room for terrorism, he added. The New Zealand High Commissioner said his country deplored all forms of terrorism.