Peace talks to resume soon – Balasingham

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 June 2003, 18:44 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said today that the peace negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers, suspended for the past few months, will resume soon.

Mr.Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and the theoretician of the LTTE told TamilNet that the discussions he had with the Norwegian facilitators today in London were positive and constructive. Mr.Balasingham met with the Norwegian special envoy Mr.Eric Solheim and Ms Lisa Golden, executive officer of the Royal Norwegian Foreign Ministry, this morning and had discussions for nearly three hours. Mr.Solheim is to brief the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe and the government’s chief negotiator, Prof. Mr. G.L.Peiris, who are in London on an official visit.

Mr.Balasingham told the Norwegian facilitators that the LTTE leadership is awaiting the government’s proposal for an interim administration. “If a concrete set of proposals is presented the LTTE will study the frame work and suggest improvements. Thereafter, the parties could enter into negotiations to formalise and finalise the envisaged interim administration,” Mr.Balasingham said.

Mr.Balasingham also explained to the Norwegian peace envoys the need to redefine the agenda for talks. “Instead of pursuing guidelines, milestones and road maps for an imaginary solution, the talks should address crucial issues related to the harsh existential realties of the ground situation,” Mr.Balasingham said.

The negotiations between the Tamil Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka had been stalemated since April this year following the LTTE’s decision to boycott the talks, demanding the fulfilment of the decisions taken at talks.