LTTE not included - President

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 June 2000, 10:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge Friday re-iterated her government's position that the Liberation Tigers would not be included in the proposed interim administration for the North and East. A press release by the government's Special Media Information Center said no decision had been made to include the LTTE "which is a terrorist organization" and blamed media reports for the confusion.

The text of the press release follows:

"Certain sections of the local media quoting foreign media and agency reports had published that the Government had agreed to include LTTE in the proposed interim council to administer the North and East of the country.

"The President wishes to categorically state that there is no truth whatsoever in these news reports and that no decision has ever been made to include the LTTE which is a terrorist organisation.

"The Government's stance on the LTTE remains the same that the LTTE could participate in an interim council only on entering the democratic political mainstream and giving up their terror campaign.

"The president on behalf of the Government had specifically reiterated that representatives of the registered Tamil,Muslim and Sinhala democratic political parties representing the North-East should participate in the proposed interim Council."