Gov't slams LTTE's decision to pull out of transport agreement
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, April 15, IRNA
Sri Lanka-LTTE-Talks
Head of the Sri Lankan government's Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), Palitha Kohona, Saturday attended a press conference in Colombo, capital city of Sri Lanka to slam the rebels over a decision to pull out of a transport agreement.
The rebels were interested in holding discussions with their eastern military commanders in the island's north before they could go to Geneva. But today, after an agreement on the logistics, the Tigers pulled out, PTI report said here.
Kohona said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) protested against naval escorts for a boat ferrying Tiger cadres, but it was not a condition imposed by Colombo, but part of the deal the Tigers themselves had agreed to with Scandinavian truce monitors.
There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE to the latest developments over the transport of their field commanders between the east and the north.
Sri Lankan government raised serious doubts about the sincerity of Tamil Tiger rebels to go ahead with the rescheduled Swiss talks on saving their truce as troops thwarted another landmine attack.
He said there had been "great provocation" by the Tigers by escalating attacks against government forces and civilians in the past week, but yet Colombo agreed to go to Geneva to talk.
In the island's northeastern port town of Trincomalee, the curfew was lifted after three people were killed in mob violence overnight.
Peace broker Norway announced Friday that talks between Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels would be held from April 24, five days later than originally scheduled, in Geneva and would be shorten to two days instead of three as earlier planned.
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