LTTE faking interest in talks: Chandrika

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, OCT. 7. The Sri Lanka President, Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga, has accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of pretending to Norwegian interlocutors that it is interested in peace negotiations in order to keep the ``sympathy'' of Western Governments where its fund-raising activities are based.

Mrs. Kumaratunga told presspersons on Friday that her Government's efforts at engaging the LTTE in negotiations with the help of Norway had ``not worked'' because the separatist group was not interested in talking.

``(The LTTE) has played the fool with the Norwegians. This is the conclusion that the Government has had to arrive at sadly in the last several months,'' she said.

Expressing the oft-repeated Sri Lankan complaint that the West is too lenient on the LTTE, Mrs. Kumaratunga said: ``(The LTTE) have kept talking to (the Norwegians) to pretend to the world, so that the world will still feel sympathy for them and allow LTTE agents in their countries, especially in the Western countries, to raise funds to buy their arms and continue the carnage in Sri Lanka.''

The President said hopes of negotiations with the group were ``remote.'' However, the Foreign Minister, Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, who was also present, said the Government had asked the Norwegians to ``remain in the process.''

In a marked departure from the People's Alliance campaign in the 1994 election which was fought on the peace platform, Mrs. Kumaratunga asserted that there was now no alternative for the Government but to wage an all-out war on the LTTE.

After winning the 1994 Parliamentary election, Mrs. Kumaratunga began peace talks which ended in failure in April 1995.

The Government then began an all-out war on the rebel group, which has seen its share of successes and failures, but there was no outright victory for either side.

Mrs. Kumaratunga declared that a victory was now possible. She said her Government had given several opportunities to the LTTE for returning to the table.

``But they have not, and now, we are going to go for a no-holds- barred military campaign.''

Holding out the prospect of more war, Mrs. Kumaratunga describing the coming general election as ``the last chance for peace.''

She said her Government would implement ``very soon'' after the election. The controversial Constitution Bill aimed at a political resolution of the conflict, that she failed to push through the last Parliament.

Mrs. Kumaratunga denied that in the campaign, the PA was playing down the Bill that faced opposition from hardline Sinhala groups when it was introduced in Parliament in August.

The PA and the opposition United National Party (UNP) are believed to be evenly poised in the October 10 election, but Mrs. Kumaratunga said she was confident that the PA would return to power.

However, she appeared willing to consider the possibility of a UNP victory when she said it would be ``very difficult'' to work with Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister.

Asked whether feared such a result might lead to a constitutional deadlock, Mrs Kumaratunga, who won a second term as President in 1999 against Mr. Wickremesinghe, said: ``It is the President who can make the deadlock because the Constitution gives all the power to the President. We will see.''

The President said the Indian Government had taken a very ``positive stand'' of ``clear and strong moral and political support'' to her Government's policies on the war and the peace process.

She said though India had not involved itself in the war, there was ``a lot of collaboration'' between the two countries ``on intelligence, on security matters.''

``That goes on,'' Mrs. Kumaratunga said.

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Section  : International
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