Sri Lankan Rebels: No One Can Win War

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 11, 2002

Sri Lankan Rebels: No One Can Win War

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The Norwegian special advisor on Sri Lanka peace process Eric Solheim has said that Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had indicated that neither the government nor the rebels could win the war.

This has convinced him of Prabhakaran's sincerity for peace, he added.

Solheim was quoted by The Island newspaper as telling a news conference in Oslo last week that if the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels launched another attack it would be disastrous for them as "both America and India were watching them."

He described the peace initiative by Prime Minister Ranil Wikcremesinghe as honest and genuine.

He said Norway's role at the talks would be an "observer" as urged by the Colombo government. Talks under the previous government had collapsed due to a lack of trust, he noted.

In response to a question that Norway under the guise of being facilitator was playing many other roles as well, Solheim said it was doing what the Sri Lanka government wanted it to do.

As to whether the September 11 terrorist attack on U.S. forced the LTTE rebels into peace, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen who also participated in the media conference, saidthere were several elements but made no firm assessment. The LTTE rebels had admitted they had lost 17,000 combatants in the 19-yearethnic war and their fund raising moves abroad had been affected, he added.

The government and LTTE rebels are expected to hold their direct peace talks in Thailand at the end of this month or early July in a bid to bring an end to the long-running ethnic war whichhas claimed over 64,000 lives since 1983.

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