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Kumaratunga bluffing, say LTTE factions
indiatimes.com,
MARCH 22, 2004 02:17:25 AM ].
With peace talks emerging as a key issue in the run-up to the April 2 polls in Sri Lanka , the LTTE and its breakaway faction leader today rejected claims by President Chandrika Kumaratunga that her party was in contact with them. “It is totally an untruthful statement,” LTTE’s political wing leader S P Thamilselvan said, referring to Kumaratunga’s public remarks that her party was in contact with LTTE and that they had expressed willingness to resume negotiations with her.
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Published: Sun Mar 21 18:01:31 EST 2004
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US Took The Lead Internationally To Weaken the LTTE Says Former US Ambassador
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo,
SLT 11.50 P.M Sunday 21 March.
Former Deputy US Permanent Representative to the UN and former Ambassador to
Sri Lanka, Peter Burleigh says the United States took the lead
internationally in attempting to isolate and weaken the LTTE and his
countries effort crystallized when the LTTE was added to the list of
terrorist groups maintained by the US government. Speaking on the role of
the US in South Asian Conflicts at a seminar organized by the US/SL
Fullbright Commission and the Bandaraniake Center for International Studies
(BCIS) on Saturday, Burleigh said " That step by the US made illegal the
supply of financial and other support from US citizens to the LTTE. It also
has some impact on similar actions taken by other governments, where like
the US, there are substantial numbers of Tamil expatriates. While this US
action probably had some real financial impact on the LTTE, perhaps more
importantly it had a psychological and practical impact which probably made
the LTTE leadership more inclined to seek a negotiated settlement."
Ambassador Burleigh pointed out that isolating the LTTE internationally has
accelerated since the attacks on September 11th 2001 and the resultant UN
blessed action against terrorist groups worldwide.
Burleigh also said that over the years the US has taken an active role in
encouraging cooperation between the UNP and the SLFP/PA leaderships as they
negotiated with the LTTE. He said " Friends of Sri Lanka deeply regret that
this has not yet been possible, for such lack of coordinated position
undermines government efforts and give the LTTE additional leverage, which
in the face of a unified position of the major parties it would not enjoy"
Another speaker at the seminar, a former US Assistant Secretary of State,
Dr. Walter Anderson said that as a part of the US strategy to root out the
forces of extremism, the United States has become more involved in helping
to stem the long-running civil strife in Sri Lanka and the more recent but
equally virulent Maoist insurgency in Nepal.
Published: Sun Mar 21 13:05:54 EST 2004
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Kumaratunga sets terms to resume Lanka peace talks
navhindtimes.com,
Monday, March 22.
In a move apparently to keep the Tamil Tiger rebels away from the negotiating table in the future, Sri Lankan President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga has set preconditions for the LTTE to recommence peace talks if her United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) came to power in the general elections on April 2.
Reiterating her commitment for a negotiated political settlement, President Ms Kumaratunga told Colombo-based Sunday Observer newspaper, which is presently under her control, that commencing early negotiations with the LTTE “on the basis of equality and justice to all will be a priority when the UPFA forms the government in early April.”
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Published: Sun Mar 21 18:02:27 EST 2004
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