Sri Lanka 's government, Tamil Tiger rebels to hold first meeting on joint aid operations
Associated Press,
Thu January 27, 2005 06:29 EST .
SHIMALI SENANAYAKE
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tiger rebels will hold their first direct meeting on how to use foreign aid to rebuild tsunami-damaged areas under guerrilla control, officials said Thursday.
A rebel delegation was to travel to the Sri Lankan capital Friday for the meeting, officials said on condition of anonymity.
The rebel leaders were to bring a response to a government suggestion for a three-tiered system of committees to review project proposals at the district, regional and political levels, the officials said.
Still to be decided is who will sit on the committees and how they will function.
Norway, which brokered a truce between the two warring sides three years ago, has been mediating efforts to bring them together to coordinate tsunami relief and reconstruction.
If an agreement is reached, it would mark a significant step: the first collaboration on a political level since peace talks collapsed in April 2003.
But the proposal to cooperate with the rebels has created tension within the government, amid protests by a nationalist coalition partner that it would give legitimacy to the rebels.
Somawansa Amarasinghe, leader of the People's Liberation Front which is known by its Sinhalese acronym JVP, said the Tigers were nothing more than an armed rebel group.
``If a legitimate government incorporates rebel representation in an official institution, it amounts to giving that armed group recognition of their separate state rule,'' he said at a political rally earlier this week.
``We will not under any circumstances agree to such an arrangement,'' he said.
The JVP has opposed any concessions demanded by the rebels to revive the Norwegian-sponsored peace negotiations.
Hopes were raised that the Dec. 26 tsunami would unite the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils in their joint misery, and prompt them to set aside their differences to work together.
More than 31,000 Sri Lankans on both sides perished in the massive tidal wave, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless.
Over the weekend, a Norwegian team led by Foreign Minister Jan Petersen held separate talks with Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and reclusive rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran aimed at setting up a joint mechanism to determine how aid should be used.
Most international donors are reluctant to give funds directly to the Tigers, which is banned as a terrorist group in five countries, including the United States and India.
One suggestion is for the World Bank to administer the disbursement of funds as determined by any joint body to be established, officials said.
Sri Lanka's key donors - the United States, Norway, Japan and the European Union - met in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday and expressed hope the tsunami would help bring peace to this tropical island nation.
``In the midst of this tremendous natural disaster, renewed opportunities exist to build confidence and to strengthen the peace process,'' a joint statement said.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam began fighting in 1983 to create a separate state for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million Tamils, accusing the country's 14 million Sinhalese of discrimination.
Published: Thu Jan 27 10:10:53 EST 2005
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