Catholic Bishops to meet LTTE leaders

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 1999, 11:47 GMT]
The Catholic Bishops of Jaffna, Mannar and Batticaloa are expected to visit the Vanni region shortly to meet the senior members of the Liberation Tigers church sources said.

The Bishops' visit has been planned after they had discussions with the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge and the Deputy Minister of Defence Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte, the sources added.

Rt. Rev. Thomas Soundaranayagam the Bishop of Jaffna, Rt. Rev. Kingsley Swampillai, Bishop of Batticaloa, and Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar, went to the Vanni last month, and met senior LTTE members including the organisation's political wing leader Thamilchelvan.

The Bishops had discussed the need to bring about an end to the conflict with the Tigers.

The Tigers had said that they were prepared for talks and that it was up to the government to send the "peace signal". The Tigers had told the Bishops that the right atmosphere for peace talks has to be brought about.

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