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By V.S. Sambandan
COLOMBO. APRIL 24. Exerting pressure on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to renounce separatism and return to the negotiating table, the United States today slammed it for "prolonging the conflict" by "pursuing a violent, separatist agenda". Countering the LTTE at its basics, the U.S. envoy to Sri Lanka, Ashley Wills, said: "The LTTE's weapons and armed cadre are not protecting Tamil rights; they are prolonging this conflict and delaying the day when Tamils can live in truly peaceful conditions." The Tigers have always claimed that they are the "sole representatives of the island's Tamils and that "military strength" was their main "bargaining power" in the negotiations. Mr. Wills' assertion today directly challenges these claims. The "blame" for the present situation, Mr. Wills was quoted by the Embassy as telling a Western news agency, "does not fall exclusively on the side of the Government as the LTTE's statement suggested". The LTTE also had to "bear heavy responsibility for numerous breaches of the ceasefire", he said. The envoy wanted the Tigers to "reflect carefully on their own transgressions" and termed as "ludicrous" their position that poverty in southern Sri Lanka was "self-inflicted". Conceding that "successive governments" in the south had "made many mistakes", Mr. Wills said: "if blame is being distributed fairly, the LTTE deserves a great deal as well". Moreover, the LTTE's "pursuit of an extreme, separatist agenda by violent means has cost Sri Lanka's lives and 20 years of peaceful development", he said. Reiterating the U.S. position that the LTTE should renounce terrorism and violence, Mr. Wills said "the truly courageous thing" for the LTTE to do was to "give up violence and even the threat of violence and push for permanent peace now". The U.S., he said, "can see a legitimate political role for the LTTE, provided it renounces terrorism and violence'' The U.S. "continues to believe that the way out of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict is through negotiations facilitated by the Government of Norway", the release said. Maintaining her tough position on military issues, the Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, today ruled out de-militarisation of the Jaffna Peninsula until a permanent solution was reached with the LTTE. "As long as the LTTE is armed and does not give up violence, the northern High Security Zones (HSZ) will not be removed." The rebels wanted "re-location of the HSZs" and unilaterally suspended talks on Monday demanding implementation of agreements reached during the last six rounds of talks. "No army of a sovereign Government can pull its troops out", the Sudar Oli newspaper quoted her as saying. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Government continued to put on a brave face to the unilateral rebel action. "It is certainly not the end of the peace process," Colombo's chief negotiator, G.L. Peiris, told reporters today, expressing the hope that "resumption of dialogue will take place sooner than later". Asked about the Government's reaction to the LTTE's charges, Prof. Peiris said: "it is not helpful to indulge in imputation of blame". There was "no question of breach of trust" he said, adding "the door has not been slammed shut".
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