LTTE ban to go ten days before Thailand talks - PM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 June 2002, 11:48 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe Wednesday assured the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will be removed ten days ahead of the commencement of the peace talks in Thailand. The Prime Minister met a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for a discussion on the peace process held Wednesday morning at his office in the parliament.

A nine member delegation of the TNA led by its parliamentary group leader Mr.R Sampanthan and comprising TNA MPs Mr.V.Anandasangaree, Jafna, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Batticaloa, Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni, Mr.Sivasakthi Anandan, Vanni, Mr. K.Thangavadivel, Batticaloa, Mr. G. Krishnapillai, Batticaloa, Mr.A.Vinayagamoorthy, Jaffna, Mr. A.Chandra Nehru, Amparai met the Prime Minister at the latter's invitation.

At the commencement of the discussion, which lasted for about an hour, the Prime Minister briefed the TNA delegation about his recent European tour and the outcome of the talks he had with the European leaders regarding the current peace effort.

The Prime Minister replied that the government is very firm in removing the ban on LTTE in Sri Lanka and it will take place ten days ahead of the commencement of the peace talks, when the TNA delegation insisted the ban should be removed immediately.

Referring to the representations made by the TNA delegation that the some sections of the State armed forces are engaged in undermining the full implementation of the cease-fire agreement in letter and spirit, the Prime Minister replied that on his return from a visit to India, he would summon the Defence Minister and Interior Minister for a conference to sort out all the shortcomings in implementing the agreement.

However the Prime Minister accepted in policy that the agreement has not been fully implemented. But the Prime Minister requested the TNA delegation to bring to his notice the problems which have arisen in implementing the agreement, TNA sources said.

Referring to the request made by the TNA to allocate more funds for the rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced people in the war ravaged Northeast province, the Prime Minister said that he canvassed financial assistance from aid agencies and countries during his European tour. But those agencies and countries had intimated to him they were awaiting the commencement of the official peace talks between the government and LTTE to take a final decision in this regard, recalling their earlier experiences in Sri Lanka.

However the Prime Minister told the TNA delegation that some financial assistance could be obtained to implement urgent rehabilitation and resettlement projects for the displaced.

The Prime Minister assured the TNA delegation that proper peace talks will commence soon between the government and the Liberation Tigers.