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Norway appreciates Thailand’s swift positive response
Saroj Pathirana in London,
Friday 29/03/02 1715 GMT.
The government of Thailand quickly responded to Norwegian government’s
request to host the peace talks between Sri Lankan government and the Tamil
Tigers, a senior Norwegian government official said. Speaking with BBC’s
Sandeshaya in Bangkok, after the jointly announcing Bangkok as the venue
for historic peace talks with Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathianthai,
Norway’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Vidar Helgesen said that the
Norwegian government highly appreciates Thailand’s swift response.
He said that the place and the date for talks yet to be finalised by the
parties and the Norwegian government in consultation with the government of
Thailand.
"The date will be announced in the case of next week".
Mr. Helgesen added that the Norwegian government does not need to rush the
parties to the negotiating table and would like the parties to take necessary time to set the agenda for the talks. "Until and unless the
confidence building measures and conditions set out by the cease-fire
agreement fulfilled, talks will not commence".
excerpts of the interview are as follows:
Q: Many were in the hope that the talks would be held in India, which is
closer to the country and which has a large interest on Sri Lankan affairs?
Minister: There has been some media speculations and some reactions to those
media speculations. Apart from the speculation in the media, there has been
no official request going to the Indian government to host the talks. We
have requested the government of Thailand and they have basically accepted
to provide the venue for talks. We highly appreciate that.
Q: Have you taken any decision on the dates to start talks?
Minister: No. The date and the place for talks will be decided by the
parties and the Norwegian government in consultation with the government of
Thailand. At the moment we are consulting with both parties on the
framework, agenda and the format of the talks. Focus of attention is to get
the agenda right. That is more important than setting the date. Date will
follow the agenda.
Q: In the meantime, Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem has wrote to the
Prime Minister saying that the Muslims in the east are being continually
harassed by the LTTE?
Minister: We are very much aware of the situation of the Muslim population
in Sri Lanka. That has indeed explicitly stated in the cease-fire agreement;
the measures to restore normalcy, the measures to stop harassment are
included in the agreement. If there are continuing allegations on the
breaching the cease-fire agreement, that should be dealt by the Monitoring
mission (SLMM).
Q: Earlier there were reports that the LTTE having a base in a remote island
of Thailand to produce speed boats and even submarines. Sri Lankan
government brought this to the attention of the Thai government also. Going
by these reports, is there any link between that and the talks being held in
Thailand now?
Minister: No. There is no connection between those alleged links and the
choice of Thailand as the venue for talks.
Published: Fri Mar 29 12:18:29 EST 2002
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This session has now ended.