2ND LEAD

Colombo expects EU to ban LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 April 2006, 07:46 GMT]
Head of Sri Lanka Government's Peace Secretariat, Dr. Palitha Kohona told media in Colombo that the EU was considering imposing a ban on the LTTE. Responding to a question at a press conference held at the Sri Lankan Information Department Sunday morning, Dr. Kohona, said that the "recent conduct" of the LTTE is a minus point for the Tigers as the EU was evaluating the events taking place in the North and East.

The EU ban on the Tigers was on the cards for some time, Kohona told the media after clarifying Colombo's stance.

Colombo has sought a clear reply from the LTTE on their stance on attending Geneva talks and on the immediate cessation of claymore attacks, he further told media.

"The LTTE has rejected all the offers rendering the sustained efforts by the GOSL, the Facilitator and the SLMM fruitless up to now," a statement issued by the SL Government's Peace Secretariat said.

The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) deplored the "disinclination of the LTTE to agree to the talks in Geneva," the statement said.

"It is even more deplorable that the LTTE has taken the incongruous position of seeking military helicopter facilities in the midst of sustained unprovoked claymore attacks," the statement issued at the press meet further said.

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has indicated that the GoSL would accede to the suggestion of hiring a "10 seater helicopter," the statment said without specifying the type of the helicopter.

Sri Lankan government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe and the SL Minister of Mass Media and Information Anura Priyadharshana Yapa took part in the press meet held on Sunday.

Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer and the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Hans Brattskar met Sri Lankan Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, leader of the GoSL delegation and the Secretary General of SCOPP Palitha Kohona Saturday to debrief the government on the latest response from the Tigers.