The Hindu : Better prospects for peace this time

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 30, 2002

International

International

Better prospects for peace this time

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO MARCH 29. Thailand has agreed to host peace talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), it was confirmed today.

The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, made the announcement in Bangkok, after discussions with the Thai Foreign Minister.

Thailand was chosen after India, the first preference of the LTTE, was ruled out following strong public and political reaction within India against the proposal.

The Sri Lankan Cabinet spokesman and senior Minister, G.L. Peiris, said earlier this week that the initial discussions would be "preliminary'' in nature and would focus on setting the agenda and sequence of the talks. There was no timeframe for preliminary talks to end and substantive discussions to begin, and that due to the nature of the issues involved, it would be inappropriate to set deadlines.

The Government team for the talks is not yet known. From the LTTE side, it is fairly certain that Anton Balasingham, senior member who returned last week from London to northern Sri Lanka for direct consultations with his leader, Velupillai Prabakaran, will be an important participant.

This is the first time since 1995 that the two sides will meet and the first time with the assistance of a Western country.

The last peace talks collapsed before the two sides could move from the preliminaries to political discussions, with the Tigers pulling out of the process with an attack on the Trincomalee harbour.

This time, those involved in the process are hopeful that global events since last September 11 will keep the LTTE chained to the negotiating table.

The involvement of an outside power, which has the backing of the U.S. as well as India, is also seen as an indicator of better prospects for peace this time around. Norway, which came in as facilitator, will remain to mediate if the two sides wish, officials associated with the peace process said.

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