The Hindu : Sri Lanka to de-proscribe LTTE

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 05, 2002

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Sri Lanka to de-proscribe LTTE

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO SEPT. 4. The Sri Lankan Defence Minister, Tilak Marapone, today told the Cabinet that he had decided to de-proscribe the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

In a Cabinet meeting lasting barely 15 minutes, Mr. Marapone informed his colleagues about his decision to de-proscribe the Tigers, thereby meeting a crucial condition set by the rebels ahead of direct talks to start on September 16.

A notification is to be gazetted on the de-proscription later tonight, Defence sources said. The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, who had struck a note of caution that the lifting of the ban should be linked to progress made in the talks, was not present at the Cabinet meeting.

The LTTE was banned on January 26, 1998 a day after the rebels bombed the Dalada Maligawa (the Temple of the Tooth Relic) in Kandy. The ban was promulgated by Ms. Kumaratunga, in her capacity as the then Defence Minister.

The Government had earlier said that it would meet the rebel demand for de-proscription. The State media had announced that the ban would be lifted on September 6. However, today's decision to lift the ban and to gazette it comes against the backdrop of protest by hardliners who were opposed to the lifting of the ban. The Presidential spokesman, Harim Peiris, told The Hindu that the "a considered opinion will be given in due course of time''.

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