LTTE, government delegations in Thailand

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 October 2002, 10:35 GMT]
The delegations of the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Wednesday flew in the same plane from Colombo to Thailand to attend the second round of four day peace talks scheduled to commence on October 31, airport sources said.

The members of the LTTE delegation arrived in Colombo from Vanni in two Sri Lanka Air force helicopters. They were picked Tuesday late afternoon up from the Malathy grounds in Puthukudiryippu, sources said.

Both delegations left Katunayake airport around 3 a.m. Wednesday in Cathy Pacific Airlines plane to Thailand, the state run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation reported in its morning news bulletin.

The government delegation comprised ministers Professor G.L.Peiris, Milinda Moragoda and Rauff Hakeem. The LTTE delegation with Mr. Anton Balasingham, Mrs. Adele Balasingham, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Col. Karuna, Mr. V. Rudrakumar and J. Maheswaran, according to the SLBC news report.

However a private electronic media (MTV) reported in its morning news bulletin said that Minister Hakeem has been staying behind in Colombo to hold talks with the Prime Minister Wednesday morning before leaving for Thailand.