Donors cannot super impose solution - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 November 2004, 10:45 GMT]
''The donor conferences held in Oslo on 25 November 2002 and in Tokyo on 10 June 2003 and the resolutions adopted at these meetings cannot bind our liberation organisation to a particular framework of a final political settlement,'' said Mr Anton Balasingham, the political advisor and chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a statement to TamilNet Wednesday.
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President meets opposition leader

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 November 2004, 15:13 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga Tuesday urged opposition leader, Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe to participate in the all party parley to find a solution to end the island's ethnic conflict. Mr. Wickremesinghe and President Kumaratunga met in Colombo for discussions on Tuesday. All the main opposition parties, including the Tamil National Alliance and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress are boycotting the NACPR, charging that it is a time buying ruse by President Kumaratunga.
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Ranil warns against altering Sri Lanka's constitution

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2004, 16:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s opposition leader Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe said Friday that any attempt by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to alter the country’s constitution might encourage the Liberation Tigers to exercise the mandate obtained by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) at the last general elections to summon their own constituent assembly in the northeast. Addressing a seminar by the International Democratic Union-Asia Pacific Democratic Union at the Taj Samudra Hotel in downtown Colombo, he said: “it can really throw a spanner in the peace process."
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Akashi to meet JVP leaders

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 10:37 GMT]
Mr.Yasushi Akashi, Japanese special peace envoy who is scheduled to arrive in Colombo evening has agreed to meet the political leadership of the Sinhala nationalist-Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), major constituent of the United Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, during his seven day stay in Sri Lanka, State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) reported in its news bulletin Wednesday.
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Pressing UPFA to start talks, our priority- UNP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 10:51 GMT]
"We are not pressuring the Sri Lanka Government or its President that the ISGA must be granted to the North-East, nor do we impose our stand. Our party's stance is that the ISGA proposals should be used as the basis to start talks and that it is vital that talks start soon", stated Ranil Wickramasinghe at meeting of the UNP Parliamentary group last Tuesday held at the Parliamentary complex, political sources in Colombo said.
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Talks should start immediately- UNP

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 18:27 GMT]
Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, former Minister and UNP spokesman said during a Media Conference held at the Opposition Leader's Office Sunday, that there is no need for any counter-proposals to the LTTE's Interim Self-Govering Authority (ISGA) proposals to start discussions with the LTTE, sources said.
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Peace trapped in political chess game- paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 10:50 GMT]
"Leader of Opposition, Ranil Wickremasinghe, has told the Indian leaders that that United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA). should start talks with the LTTE. In earlier times, it was left to the Tamil leaders to undertake missions to bring pressure to bear on the Sri Lanka Governments. Tables have now turned, giving way to the scenario of one main southern Sri Lanka political camp persuading NewDelhi to pressure the other southern camp to start peace negotiations immediately," said Thinakkural, a popular Tamil daily in its editorial Thursday.
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India's External Affairs Minister meets Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 02:47 GMT]
India's Minister of External Affairs Mr.Natwar SIngh and Sri Lanka's Leader of the Opposition United National Front (UNF) and former Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Wickramesinghe met during the latter's visit to India and held wide ranging discussions, said a press release issued by the UNF. office of the UNF said today.
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Peace talk delays, diversionary tactic of SL Govt.- Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 00:33 GMT]
Charging that Sri Lanka Government's deliberate delaying of peace talks as a diversionary tactic, Leader of Sri Lanka Opposition and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing a group of political and business leaders on the eve of an official trip to India Friday, warned that if the Sri Lanka Government does not genuinely make efforts to advance the peace process it will lose a valuable opportunity for resolving the ethnic conflict. He said further that unless negotiations are undertaken immediately the economy will be adversely affected.
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U.S Congressman speaks on Sri Lanka violence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 02:06 GMT]
Republican Iowa Congressman James A. Leach, chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific of the House International Relations Committee, expressed concern about the rising level of political violence in Sri Lanka and called for a resumption of the peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in a statement before the U.S House of Representatives issued October 7 and distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.
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UNP rejects council, urges talks on ISGA

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 2004, 07:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s main opposition this weekend declined to join President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s ruling alliance in a ‘National Advisory Council’ on the Norwegian backed peace process, instead urging the government to resume talks with the Liberation Tigers on the basis of the latter’s interim administration proposals.
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UNP holds demonstration in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 2004, 23:27 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians, thousands of party cadres and activists joined a mass demonstration to protest against the worsening economic situation under the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government in front of the Colombo Fort railway station for nearly two hours Friday.
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UNP says planning first step to topple Kumaratunge govt

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2004, 13:08 GMT]
The United National Party (UNP) will hold a mass demonstration in Colombo on September 24, Friday, to protest against the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government. UNP MPs Mr. Gamini Lokuge and Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told a press conference in Colombo Tuesday, that the protest would be the first step to topple the UPFA Government, which has not fulfilled its promises to the people.
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Mass meditation in Colombo for Peace Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2004, 13:03 GMT]
Hundreds of Buddhist monks and other religious leaders participated in a peace meditation to mark Universal Peace Day on the Bandarnaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) grounds in Colombo Tuesday. The meditation was organized by Sarvodaya and other civil society groups.
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President's intentions not translated into action - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2004, 12:45 GMT]
LTTE Political Wing in a press release Sunday accused the President Chandrika Kumaratunga of being responsible for the delay in restarting the peace process. The intentions of the President who "expressed her interest in restarting the peace process", were "not translated into action" said the Press Release. The recent statement of the President is "far from the truth and is totally disappointing" said the Press Release.
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$700/day nightly comfort for SL team to UN- paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2004, 11:55 GMT]
"Sri Lanka delegation to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) sessions is billed to stay at the most famous five-star luxury hotel in the city - the Waldorf Astoria," in New York costing Sri Lankan tax payers room rates ranging from $370 to $700, Sunday Times, a weekly broadsheet in Colombo reported in its Sunday edition.
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Solheim meets Sri Lanka's Opposition Leader

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 September 2004, 03:10 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim met with the Opposition Leader and former Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe, at the latter's official residence Friday evening, on the eve of his departure after a five day stay in Sri Lanka, sources said.
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ISGA must form basis for talks- UNP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2004, 14:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) Thursday reiterated its stand that the future talks between the United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should commence on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA), said UNP's media spokesman and former minister Professor G.L.Peiris addressing a press briefing in Colombo.
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Monks demand SL Govt to declare Buddhism as 'state religion'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 06:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s hardline monks took another step towards creating their ideal of a Buddhist state this week with their parliamentary party calling for a Constitutional change to make Buddhism the state religion.
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Norwegian peace envoy arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 04:45 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Eric Solheim arrived in Colombo Monday evening on a five-day visit to hold talks with the leaders of Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) with the aim to a make a headway in the resumption of stalled peace talks, political sources said.
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