Tuesday, Apr 22, 2003
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By V.S. Sambandan
Lankan Government "for the time being'', plunging its latest six-month-long direct talks with Colombo into yet another phase of uncertainty. Raising the known rebel tactic of brinkmanship to higher levels, the Tigers declared that they were not participating in the June donors'conference in Japan, but kept the door ajar by remaining silent on the more immediate seventh round of peace talks scheduled between April 29 and May 2 in Thailand. In a letter to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, the chief rebel negotiator, Anton S. Balasingham, demanded the "immediate resettlement'' of the displaced civilians in Jaffna, an issue that has rocked the peace process since January. The LTTE charged the Sri Lankan Government with "grave breach of good faith.'' Expressing "regret'' over their decision, Mr. Balasingham reiterated the LTTE's ``commitment to seek a negotiated political solution to the ethnic question''. The attempt to swing international opinion was apparent in Mr. Balasingham's four-page letter to Mr. Wickremesinghe. The exclusion of the Tigers at the April 14 Washington peace support seminar was termed as an attempt to "marginalise'' the organisation in the international community. For Norway's special envoy for the Sri Lankan peace process, Erik Solheim, the LTTE's decision to suspend negotiations has not come as a surprise. Declining to comment on the manner in which further rounds of the peace talks, would move, Mr. Solheim said that he was "not surprised'' by their decision as indications of such a possibility were evident going by the progress of the negotiations and the LTTE's demands.
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