Sri Lanka for talks even as fighting continues

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, APRIL 3. Heavy fighting continued in the northern Jaffna peninsula between Government troops and cadres of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) even as Sri Lanka has called upon the international community to play a ``pivotal role'' in bringing the Tigers to the negotiating table.

The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry said at least 25 Tigers and four soldiers were killed in the fighting, which was concentrated yesterday north of the Elephant Pass military base.

As the combatants in Sri Lanka's unending separatist conflict continue their artillery fire, the island's Permanent Representative in the United Nations, Mr. H.M.G.B. Palihakkara, called upon the international community to persuade the Tigers to negotiate peace with the Government.

At a recent meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the representative said, ``Years of effort made by all democratic parties would be brought to nothing if the LTTE continues to find a pretext to stay out of the negotiating process,'' the state-run Daily News reported.

The call to the international community comes in the backdrop of a fresh initiative to broker peace, with an attempt by Norway to initiate direct talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE. Simultaneously, within Sri Lanka, a process is on involving the ruling People's Alliance Government and the Opposition United National Party (UNP) to reach an overarching consensus on the Government's proposed constitutional reforms proposals.

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Section  : International
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