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Sri Lanka's PM tells Kumaratunga to handle truce with Tigers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2004, 07:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Wednesday that President Chandrika Kumaratunga should negotiate with the Liberation Tigers to renew the ceasefire agreement with them if she does not return the key ministries she took away from him in November last year. There was no immediate reaction from the Tigers to Mr. Wickremesinghe's statement Wednesday.

Addressing a meeting in Kurunagala Wednesday morning Mr. Wickremesinghe said President Kumaratunga should take responsibility for the ceasefire agreement now because the ministry of defence is under her.

The President's actions have weakened the ceasefire agreement with Tigers, the PM charged.

Mr. Wickremesinghe asked the President to "take over the entire peace process."

"She can make necessary amendments to the ceasefire agreement by placing her signature on it in consultation with the Norwegians and by re-negotiating it with the Tigers. Article 4 of the ceasefire agreement provides for this," the PM said.

He pointed out that certain sections of the agreement are not valid anymore due to the actions of the President. "We will have to go to war again if this is not rectified. Therefore if President Kumaratunga wants to continue the peace process she should renegotiate these aspects with the Tigers," he said.