Solheim meets LTTE in east

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 February 2005, 14:16 GMT]
Norway’s special peace envoy for Sri Lanka, Mr. Eric Solheim Saturday met head of LTTE’s political division for Batticaloa-Amparai district, Mr. Irasaiah Ilanthirayan for discussions on post Tsunami work and the political-security situation in the region. On an invitation by Mr. Ilanthirayan, the Norwegian peace envoy and his team visited the Tsunami devastated coastal areas of Paandiruppu, a densely populated Tamil village, 38 kilometres south of Batticaloa. Mr. Ilanthirayan and other regional LTTE officers accompanied Mr. Solheim.

The Norwegian envoy spoke to families on Paandiruppu coast that were affected by the Tsunami.

The meeting between the Norwegians and the Liberation Tigers took place at the LTTE’s political office in Paandiruppu around 3.30 p.m. Saturday. Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission for Amparai was also present at the discussion.

Mr. Solheim expressed condolences for the death of Mr. Kousalyan on behalf of the Norwegian government, LTTE officials in Batticaloa said.

“We discussed problems in this region relating to post Tsunami relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction. We also explained to the Norwegians the current security environment in this region and discussed the LTTE’s concerns in this regard”, an LTTE official in Paandiruppu said.

Mr. Pirapa and Mr. Ramanan, LTTE commanders in Batticaloa-Amparai region, Mr. Kuyilinpan, head of LTTE’s political division for Amparai, Mr. Daya Mohan, deputy head of Batticaloa-Amparai political division and Ms. Kuveni, head of women’s wing (political) for Batti-Amparai also took part in the meeting with Mr. Soheim.



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