2ND LEAD (Adds pdf version of the MOU)

GoSL, LTTE sign P-TOMS

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 June 2005, 09:05 GMT]
Norwegian facilitators, Friday noon reached Kilinochchi with the signature of Mr. Mudiyanselage Sumanaweera Jayasinghe, Secretary of Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation, who signed on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) sources in Colombo said. Mr. Shanmugalingam Ranjan, Deputy Head of Planning and Development Secretariat (PDS) on behalf of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) signed the MoU, after the Government representative had signed the treaty, sources in Kilinochchi said.

Full text of MOU on Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (Source: LTTE Peace Secretariat)

The parties signed three copies, sources said. One copy is kept by the LTTE in Kilinochchi, one by the Government of Sri Lanka in Colombo and a third copy is to be deposited in Oslo, sources added.

The signing of MoU strengthened Norwegian facilitation in the Peace Process, although critics warned that implementation of MoU still can face formidable challenges.

The preamble of the pact states that the MoU is between the two parties, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Muslim community's interests are safeguarded by its representation in the three tiered operational management structure of the P-TOMS.

According to Political observers the legal status of P-TOMS is similar to that of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) of February 2002. Both agreements were signed without explicit passage through the legislative assembly of the Sri Lankan state. This is indicative of the reality that the Tamil national question can be resolved only through extra-constitutional measures, observers pointed out.

Article 7(b) of the MoU lists the creation of a "Regional Fund", the custodian of which will be a multilateral agency appointed by both parties, the GoSL and the LTTE.

"The Parties and the Custodian shall agree on a mechanism for the establishment and operation of the Regional Fund," adds article 7(d).

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