International

Early talks stressed for lifting LTTE ban

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO MAY 30. In an apparent comeback on the LTTE stand that it would not agree to peace talks till it was legalised by Sri Lanka, the Government today said it was prepared to lift the ban once it had a firm date for peace talks, and stressed the importance of early negotiations.

``On deproscription, the Government's position is that it will be considered and it is prepared to give its mind to it but in the context of a firm date for talks to commence,'' the Constitution Affairs Minister and Cabinet spokesman, G.L. Peiris, said at a press conference today.Thailand has already been chosen as the venue some weeks ago. For its part, the Government had decided that it would send a four-member delegation for the talks. Three members of the delegation would be permanent and the fourth would change according to the subject under discussion. The Government has also informed Norway that it wanted talks in the format of three to five days at a time, Mr. Peiris said. But the LTTE continues to hold the view that it will not agree to talks till the ban on it has been lifted. It also wants "full implementation'' of the February ceasefire agreement before going to talks.

Mr. Peiris said that "some action'' on legalising the LTTE could be taken when there was a clear date for talks. He said the Norwegian facilitators were in discussions with both sides for finalising the dates for talks. Accepting the LTTE point that an atmosphere conducive for talks had to be created, Mr. Peiris nevertheless observed that "a long and unexplained delay'' in beginning talks would affect the peace process.

``An early commencement of talks is desirable unless there are very strong reasons to the contrary,'' the Minister said, adding that the Government expected that they would begin in the last week of June or early July. The Government had held a "good deal'' of discussions with the visiting delegation from Oslo last week led by the Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen.

In what seemed to be a response to another LTTE concern that the Government was trying to link the proposed interim administration for the north-east to a discussion on substantive political issues, Mr. Peiris said that while the Government wanted a whole range of issues included on the agenda, it was willing to give priority to some issues for the talks.

``Within the range of issues, we will select matters to be taken up early and matters to be discussed later,'' he said. There was agreement between the Government and the LTTE on "a variety of matters'' to be included on the agenda but some areas of disagreement remained. But such disagreement, Mr. Peiris pointed out, was to be expected in a conflict that had gone on for nearly two decades.

``It is an incremental process. That is in the nature of a complex negotiation,'' he said.

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