The Hindu : Colombo, LTTE for better truce compliance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 23, 2003

International

International

Colombo, LTTE for better truce compliance

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO MARCH 22. The Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended their sixth round of talks in Japan on Friday, with the Tigers sticking to their guns on several issues, including the sensitive one of maintaining the military balance.

Though the image as peace-makers was largely undisturbed by the March 10 sinking of an LTTE merchant vessel by the Sri Lankan Navy on the high seas, the moves made so far in the talks come as a pointer to further moves towards legitimacy by the Tigers. In contrast, no major moves were reported on key issues, particularly the inclusion of a separate Muslim team since direct talks started last September.

With the sinking of the LTTE ship, reportedly carrying arms, dominating the run-up to the talks, the two sides "undertook to enforce better compliance with the ceasefire agreement by their personnel'', according to a joint statement by the facilitators, Norway.

During the talks held between March 18 and 21, the teams representing Colombo and the LTTE, led by G.L. Peiris and Anton S. Balasingham respectively, discussed ways to strengthen the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), a multi-member Nordic team overseeing the truce since February last year. The two sides also "agreed to convene senior naval and political representatives from both sides within three weeks to work out effective arrangements for the operation of naval units in keeping with existing treaty obligations''.

According to reports, the consolidation of the ceasefire was also a major issue, especially in the grey area of control over sea territory. While the ceasefire agreement makes a distinction between Government-held and rebel-held territories, the seas around the island are entirely with the State. This has had a bearing on the LTTE's ability to replenish its armouries as was evident by the sinking of the merchant vessel. According to indications available, the demand for some form of demarcation of sea territory is also not ruled out.

Political observers see international pressure as a main factor for the LTTE to "drag on with the talks''. ``The longer the LTTE sits for negotiations, the more beneficial it is for them to gain international recognition'' a Tamil political analyst told The Hindu. "If they break off and return to war, all the gains made by them will be lost immediately'', he said.

Recalling that the Tigers had an even stronger administrative mechanism going when they were in control of Jaffna, after the Indian Peacekeeping Force was asked to leave the island before the talks with the then Premadasa administration, he said "it collapsed overnight, when the Tigers withdrew from Jaffna''.

On the security situation on the land, the two sides also agreed to certain steps, "including the establishment of procedures with the cooperation of the SLMM for handling soldiers and cadres apprehended by the other party''. The joint statement said the two sides discussed the essential elements of fiscal federalism, but did not elaborate. Six months after the talks began, the issue of inclusion of a separate Muslim team remains a non-starter. A fresh meeting has been planned between the LTTE and the Muslim representatives in Batticaloa on April 27 — two days before the next session is scheduled to begin.

The teams "discussed preliminary issues and a framework for political matters and agreed to expand this into a complete plan at the seventh session of talks'' to be held in Thailand between April 29 and May 2. The statement said: "the parties recognise that a considerable amount of time will be required to address a wide range of topics, which will include geographical regions and the division of powers between the centre and regions''.

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