The Hindu : Sri Lankan Minister to meet Sinha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 21, 2002

International

International

Sri Lankan Minister to meet Sinha

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO. NOV. 20. Sri Lanka's Minister for Ports and Shipping, Rauff Hakeem, is to meet key decision-makers in India tomorrow before the Oslo donors' conference, scheduled to be held on November 25.

Mr. Hakeem, who is an important member of Colombo's negotiating team with the Tigers, is likely to meet the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, and other senior officials during his visit.

Another Minister, Milinda Moragoda, is also likely to arrive in India in the next few days, in what is seen as an effort to win an Indian participation at the Oslo conference.

Mr. Hakeem represents the Muslim interests and Mr. Moragoda, who is a key player in the talks, is responsible for briefing the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and her senior adviser on Foreign Affairs, Lakshman Kadirgamar, on the progress of the peace process.

Joint appeal

According to media reports on Tuesday, the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE have agreed to make a joint appeal for support at the Oslo conference.

The State-run Daily News said the first meeting of the sub-committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Reconstruction Needs in the Northeast (SIHRN), formed at the recently-concluded Thailand talks, discussed how this appeal would be worded. "The appeal calls for aid for the sustainability of the peace process,'' the LTTE was quoted as saying.

The seven-hour meeting was held at the office of the Government Agent in Kilinochchi town on Monday. "Both parties agreed on a set of procedural guidelines for the sub-committee and the financial structure for its secretariat,'' the report said.

EPDP asked to leave islet

Meanwhile, the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a former militant group, which took to Parliamentary politics, has been asked by the LTTE to vacate an islet off the northern Jaffna peninsula. The EPDP has said that it would leave the islet only if the Tigers also left.

During the past few days, the EPDP cadres have been facing increasing civilian protests asking them to vacate the islet. The party has alleged that the Tigers were behind the protests.

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