ULFA ready for talks without precondition

First round of preliminary dialogue to work out modalities on February 10

The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on Saturday said that its general council had endorsed the resolution of the central executive council (CEC) to sit for talks with the Centre without any precondition.

ULFA vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi, along with the outfit's self-styled foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury and central publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary, made the announcement at their first-ever press conference here.

The ULFA leaders said the general council, which met after 15 years on January 30, unanimously endorsed the decision taken by the CEC to honour the resolution adopted at the Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan (SJA).

Mr. Choudhury said the outfit had received an invitation for the first round of preliminary dialogue with the Government of India to work out the modalities in New Delhi on February 10. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram would be present, he said, adding the ULFA leaders would also seek an audience with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The ULFA was yet to declare a ceasefire, he said.

A three-page statement, read out by Mr. Daimary and distributed among journalists, stated that formal invitation letters, for two meetings, signed by ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, were dispatched to the self-styled commander-in-chief Paresh Barua and CEC member Jiban Moran. The ULFA chairman also informed the two leaders of the meetings over phone. However, the meetings were held in their absence as they could not be present in time. The CEC held the view that the presence, at the meetings, of these members, who went missing after the crackdown on the ULFA in Bhutan in 2003, was impossible due to circumstantial reasons.

To a question whether the general council had decided to give up the “sovereignty” demand, Mr. Choudhury said the party had agreed to sit for talks without precondition as all previous efforts at resolution of the conflict through dialogue had failed due to imposition of conditions by both sides.

Asked whether “sovereignty” would be on the agenda, he said that even answering this question would be construed as a precondition for talks.

He said the ULFA was in the process of preparing the agenda, in consultation with various organisations, and would make it public once it was finalised.

Mr. Choudhury said the ULFA would have no role in the coming Assembly elections in the State.