International

Lifting of LTTE ban linked to firm date for talks

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, June 7. Sri Lanka reiterated today that it would lift the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) only when it gave firm dates for peace talks.

The Cabinet spokesman and senior Minister, G.L. Peiris, said the Government would take steps to lift the ban on the LTTE 10 days before the commencement of peace talks. The legal procedures would be considered once the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, returned from his three-day visit to India beginning Sunday. ``Once a firm date is fixed for the commencement of talks, 10 days before that date, legal steps that are necessary for de-proscription will be undertaken,'' Mr. Peiris said at a press conference today.

While the LTTE has said that it would not come for talks till it is legalised by Sri Lanka, the Government has sought to turn around the LTTE pre-condition by linking the lifting of the ban to firm dates for the talks. An optimistic Government had first said talks would be held in mid-May, but with the LTTE demanding a full implementation of the ceasefire first, that original schedule slid back to June and then July. Today, Mr. Peiris said there were no certain dates yet for the talks, which are to be held in Thailand. "We expect talks to start in the near future,'' is all that the Minister said.

The agenda for the talks would include discussions on setting up an interim administration in the north-east, as well human rights issues in the region. The LTTE had sharply criticised the Government last week for Mr. Wickremesinghe's statements in Europe that the agenda for the peace talks would also include core political issues for a final settlement of the conflict.

Mr. Peiris made no mention of this today. Instead, he said the interim administration would be a major "instrument'' in the economic development of the north-east.

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