Balasingham rejects Sri Lanka’s "amendment" concept as absurd

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 February 2006, 10:42 GMT]
Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), rejected outright the Sri Lanka government’s claim that the joint communiqué, issued after the Geneva talks, amounted to an amendment to the original Ceasefire Agreement. "This bizarre interpretation given by the President’s counsel, Mr H.L. De Silva is ridiculous and preposterous and totally unacceptable to the LTTE", Mr Balasingham told TamilNet when queried about the issue.

"The joint statement clearly points out that the parties discussed issues related the Ceasefire Agreement, reaffirming their commitment to respect and uphold the truce. What was agreed by the parties and enunciated in the joint statement falls within the framework of the Ceasefire Agreement. During the engagement the government delegation raised several issues and concerns, including the welfare of children affected by the armed conflict, for which we were compelled to respond, articulating our view. To argue such discourse entails a new intervention necessitating a supplementary amendment is absurd and illogical," the LTTE’s theoretician pointed out.

"The LTTE was totally against any amendments or revision of the original Ceasefire Agreement. Our delegation even threatened to walk out of the peace talks if the Sri Lankan government attempted to bring any changes in the original document. We have also out-rightly rejected H.L. De Silva’s contention that the Ceasefire Agreement is illegal and constitutionally invalid. It is very amusing to note that the Sri Lankan delegates, having failed to advance their ludicrous theories at the negotiating table in Geneva, are holding press meets in Colombo to propagate their defunct propositions. These sinister attempts to misrepresent the current peace dialogue will seriously impair the mutual trust between the parties and undermine the peace process”, Mr Balasingham declared.

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