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People's Alliance warns of drift in peace process

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO June 21. The Opposition People's Alliance today said the peace process had reached an uncertain stage and unless the Government took remedial steps, Sri Lanka would find itself drifting into a "dangerous'' situation.

``The peace process has reached a period of hiatus. The Government does not know where we are going, and if it continues, it could create a dangerous situation,'' said the former Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, addressing a joint press conference with other senior leaders of the party. But Mr. Kadirgamar declined to say what steps the Government should take to prevent the drift. The PA's role was to watch the situation and help the Government if help was asked for. With its leader, Chandrika Kumaratunga, as President but out of power itself, the party has been groping to define its role as an Opposition party that is also in co-habitation with the Government.

The press conference was called mainly to denounce the United National Front Government's failure to curb prices in the six months since it was voted in. While expressing support for the negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict, the PA leaders said they were expressing concern over some aspects of the peace process without attempting to sabotage it. Mr. Kadirgamar said there was no certainty any more on the dates for peace talks with the LTTE, or even on whether peace talks would be held at all.

The Government had said on Thursday, in response to LTTE statements that peace talks would not be held in the foreseeable future, that it too was in no hurry to begin negotiations, and that strengthening the ceasefire was more important.

Reacting to the LTTE's accusation that Government troops had yet to vacate temples, schools and public buildings in the north-east, Mr. Kadirgamar said the Government had signed a ceasefire agreement with "impractical clauses'' that it was now finding hard to extricate itself from. ``The Government should have given careful thought to these provisions before signing the agreement,'' he said.

Mr. Kadirgamar, who was handling the same Norwegian-facilitated peace process when the PA was in power, said his party was prepared to sit with the Government to work out an agenda for talks with the LTTE. The PA would like a comprehensive agenda in which the question of setting up an interim administration would be linked to the final settlement, he said.

``The main issues must not be lost sight of. They must be linked to the interim administration or we could have a situation where an interim administration could become the de facto final solution,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the LTTE said it would register its strong protest with the ceasefire monitoring committee over the alleged assault by the Navy on one of its cadres in an islet off Jaffna and described the incident as a grave violation of the truce and a setback to the efforts to restore peace.

The cadre, who is the LTTE political official in charge of the chain of islets off the peninsula, and another LTTE cadre, were reported to have been beaten up on Thursday night at Velanai by persons in Navy and Army uniform.

Some in the group were also in civilian clothes, and the LTTE alleged at a press conference in Velanai today that they were from the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a vociferously anti-LTTE political party.

While the LTTE opened political offices all over the north-east under the truce agreement within a few weeks after it was signed, it was permitted access to the islets only five days ago after a long wrangle with the Navy.

The Navy had declared the islets a security zone, and under the ceasefire, the LTTE was denied entry into such areas. Though the Government finally gave in and allowed the LTTE to set up offices in the islets earlier this week, Thursday's incident shows the resentment that the issue has caused within the Navy.

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