Lankan peace talks to stem from self-rule proposals

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, Aug 11, IRNA -- A top Sri Lankan government official has 
said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)`s blueprint for 
an interim self-rule as well as a fresh set of proposals, presently 
being drafted by the Freedom Alliance Government, could be the basis 
for future peace talks. 
According to the Statesman, an English-language daily, "the 
Sri Lankan government is also drafting a set of interim proposals like
the Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) of the LTTE." 
Peace talks between the government and LTTE could commence on the 
basis of the proposals made by the parties concerned," sources 
quoting the newly appointed head of the government`s peace 
secretariat, Jayantha Dhanapala, as saying while addressing members of
the Consortium of Jaffna District`s Non-Governmental Organizations. 
Dhanapala, who once headed the UN Sub Committee on Disarmament, 
also said that President Kumaratunga was very keen to restart the 
stalled peace dialogue with the LTTE. 
Coincidently, the head of the LTTE political wing, S.P. 
Thamilselvan, in an interview with the Colombo-based Tamil daily, 
said that the organization has not budged an inch from its firm 
position to resume talks only on the basis of its blueprint for 
interim self-rule in the war-ravaged north-east. 
"Our proposals for an interim Self-Government Authority (ISGA) 
for the north-east is based on the Tamil people`s aspirations in 
toto. We will resume talks only on this basis and have not made any 
change in this position. If the government comes forward to resume 
talks on the ISGA, we will healthily take forward the peace talks," 
Thamilselvan said in reply to a question on the government`s bid 
to come up with a fresh set of proposals. 
Meanwhile, the Left parties in India favor "full autonomy, within 
the framework of a united Sri Lanka" as a solution to the ethnic 
conflict and had said they were against any dilution of the 
island-nation`s territorial integrity, Sitaram Yechury, the CPI (M) 
Polit Bureau member, said on Tuesday. 
According to the Hindu, a New Delhi-based English daily, in an 
impromptu interaction with select journalists in Colombo, Yechury, 
who delivered a commemoration lecture on the invitation of the 
Communist Party of Sri Lanka, said the Indian Left`s position was 
that "the rights of the minorities of all nationalities in Sri Lanka 
should be respected," and that the formula to a solution to the 
decades-long separatist crisis was "for the Sri Lankan people and 
its political forces to decide." 
Asked about the contours of an Indian role, he said: "We can help 
as a good neighbor in whichever way Sri Lanka wants." 
On the possibility of a military role by India if invited by the 
island-nation, he said: "It is not on the agenda." 
A solution, he said, would have to be arrived at in a manner in 
which the "framework of a united Sri Lanka should not be disturbed." 
Asked if his party had reservations about a confederation system 
as a federal model for Sri Lankan conflict`s resolution, Yechury 
said: "We won`t have any problem with that as long as the country is 
united." 
He said the demand for a separate state by the Liberation Tigers 
of Tamil Eelam "did not fit into our understanding of how a multi- 
national and multi-lingual country should function." 
Emphasizing that "a united Sri Lanka and a unitary system are not
synonymous," Yechury said federalism "is not a static concept." 
On the importance of maintaining the territorial integrity of 
South Asian countries, which have been plagued by several ethnic 
conflicts, Yechury said that conceding to the demand for separation 
would mean the "Balkanization of India," which itself has its own 
ethnic conflicts. 
"Any dilution of territorial integrity," Yechury contended, would 
"only open up a Pandora`s box of insoluble problems." 
Elsewhere in Colombo, the US Embassy shut down indefinitely on 
Tuesday and ordered its staff to leave the compound following a 
security threat, diplomats said. 
2160/2321/1432
NEWSLETTER
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
Military

Lankan peace talks to stem from self-rule proposals
