International
LTTE wants all curbs to go
By Nirupama Subramanian
COLOMBO, JAN. 5. As Sri Lanka embarks on another peace process, the LTTE has said that the Government needs to do more than the steps it has taken so far to set the ball rolling for talks, while the radical nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is saying too much has been given already.
The LTTE has reiterated to Norway, the facilitator chosen by both sides, that a complete lifting of economic restrictions on areas under its control along with removal of restrictions on fishing in the north-east coast and on the movement and travel of Tamils, are essential prerequisites for the commencement of talks, the group's website Eelam.com said.
This was conveyed to the Norwegian team comprising the Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, the special adviser the Foreign Ministry, Erik Solheim, and a Foreign Ministry official that met the LTTE representative in London, Anton Balasingham on Friday.
The Norwegian delegation is expected to visit Colombo next week.
Earlier this week, the Sri Lankan Government announced the removal of restrictions on the supply of most items to LTTE-held areas from January 15 except those deemed to be military- related. Six items continue to be banned while the Government will restrict the supply of four items.
The Jaffna-based Tamil daily Uthayan also reported that the LTTE had insisted that Sri Lanka's ban on it should be removed for the peace talks to begin.
The Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has not yet enunciated the Government's stand on removing the ban on the LTTE. He told The Hindu last month that a decision regarding the removal of the ban would be made only after ``extensive discussions'' if and when the issue arose.
Another pre-condition that is likely to come up is that Tamil political parties like the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), which now carry weapons given to them by the Government, must be disarmed.
The former, especially, is avowedly anti-LTTE and says it needs weapons for self-protection.
Meanwhile, the JVP has warned that the LTTE would try to re-group and re-arm during the truce that is being observed by both sides now. It has begun a poster campaign against the Government's declaration of a one-month truce in reciprocation of the LTTE's ceasefire.
The JVP has said the Government should not hold talks with the LTTE until it drops its demand for a separate state and surrenders its arms. The party, which has 16 seats in Parliament, has also said it will oppose the involvement of Norway in the ethnic conflict and accused it of bias towards the LTTE.
In another development, the Minister of Ports and Muslim Affairs, Rauf Hakeem, met the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jon Westborg, on Friday to emphasise the need to take into account Muslim interests in the ongoing peace process.
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