The Hindu : `Colombo not in a hurry'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 10, 2002

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`Colombo not in a hurry'

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI Aug. 9. ``We are in ho hurry. We are prepared to wait for as long as it is necessary to begin the direct talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)'', Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, Tyronne Fernando said here today.

Asked in an interview how long the Government was willing to wait for the talks in Thailand to commence, Mr. Fernando said ``We will go when everybody is ready for it. The longer we wait, the better it is for the peace process. Peace on the ground also gets solidified during that time''.

Mr. Fernando rejected the perception that Colombo was ``yielding'' to all the LTTE's demands without getting anything in return. He said ``We have got eight months of peace already. How can anyone say we have not got back anything. No one has been killed in bomb blasts. No lives have been lost either by the LTTE or the Government troops. There is normal movement of people between the north and south. The stock market has risen. The road blocks and barricades have gone. Less people are going to the hospitals and the children go to school in peace''."Is that not an achievement in itself?''.

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