Thamilchelvan discusses post-tsunami reconstruction with German officials

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 March 2005, 04:25 GMT]
The LTTE delegation which is on an official visit to European countries arrived in Berlin on Wednesday and held talks with German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Ms. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. The delegation led by Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Head of the Political Section of the LTTE, also met Mr. Bernd Borchardt, South Asia Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Jürgen Weerth, German Ambassador to Sri Lanka. Germany is Sri Lanka's second-largest bilateral donor, next to Japan.

Ms. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul

The delegation explained to German officials the urgency of a joint mechanism and the obstacles being faced by the LTTE in achieving a joint mechanism with Colombo for post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction in the NorthEast.

The LTTE delegation which visited Norway and Sweden prior to Germany is also expected to visit European Union headquarters in Brussels, according to sources close to LTTE in Berlin.

The German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ), on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), has been active in NorthEastern districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Jaffna, which have been heavily affected by the tsunami.