Tamil parties seek Dutch pressure

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2001, 21:48 GMT]
A deputation comprising representatives of several Tamil political parties met the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Colombo Tuesday morning and appealed to him to use his good offices to exert pressure on the Sri Lanka government to reciprocate the unilateral cease-fire offered by the LTTE, Tamil party sources said.

During the discussion, the Netherlands envoy queried the deputation as to whether the Tamil political parties had any connection with the LTTE and why the LTTE did not inform the Government of Norway about its unilateral call for a cease-fire.

In response, the deputation stated that Tamil political parties represented in the deputation have no connections with the LTTE, and that all who are now attempting to promote better understanding and goodwill among the warring parties should pressurise the Sri Lankan government to accept the unilateral cease-fire offer of the LTTE.

They also asked the Government of Netherlands to pressurise both sides to the ethnic conflict to agree on a cease-fire.

The Ambassador of Netherlands said that his country would play a vital role in bringing the parties concerned to a negotiated political solution to the ethnic problem with the assistance of the other Tamil political parties.

The deputation also brought to the notice of the Netherlands Ambassador the allegations of human rights violation in the island.

Representatives of several Tamil political parties recently decided to meet all foreign envoys in Colombo and brief them about the urgent need for a cease-fire agreement between the warring parties and to find a political solution to the ethnic problem.

Following this decision, a deputation of several Tamil parties met the Ambassador of the United States of America, Ashley Wills, on January 5, and the same delegation met the Netherlands Ambassador earlier Tuesday.

Mr.N.Srikantha, Leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization, Mr.A.Vinayagamoorthy, Jaffna Parliamentarian and the President of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) and Mr.N.Kumaraguruparan, General Secretary of the ACTC, Mr.N.Raviraj, Jaffna Mayor representing the TULF, Mr.Ashraff Aziz of the Ceylon Democratic Workers Congress, Mr.Mano Ganeshan, Western Provincial Councillor and several others participated in the discussion.

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