Tokyo to host talks, Akashi to meet Pirapaharan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 January 2003, 12:57 GMT]
Mr. Yasushi Akashi, Japan's special envoy for peace building and rehabilitation and reconstruction in Sri Lanka and Mr.Anton Balasingham, the Liberation Tigers’ Chief negotiator and political advisor, met Sunday in Bangkok to discuss the ongoing Norwegian peace initiative in Sri Lanka and Japan’s aid plans for the country.

The two officials met at the Novotel hotel in Bangkok at 6pm for an hour. They discussed the outcomes of the fourth round of face-to-face negotiations between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government which concluded in Thailand last week.

They also discussed the provision for Japanese aid for reconstruction projects in the former war zones in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Japan will also provide aid for economic development in the south of the island.

Japan will host the 6th round of negotiations scheduled for March this year, Mr. Akashi confirmed. The next round, the fifth, will be held in Thailand in February.

Mr. Akashi is scheduled to visit the LTTE-controlled Vanni next week and is to participate in a meeting of the Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs (SIHRN), on January 16.

He is also expected to return to the Vanni next month when he will meet with the LTTE leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan, and Mr. Balasingham.