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US Official Urges Sri Lanka's Tiger Rebels to Renounce Terrorism
Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Karl Inderfurth urged on November 28 Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels to renounce terrorism or they will face further international condemnation.
"We call upon the LTTE to abandon terrorism instead, to pursue its political aim through peaceful means. Continued acts of terrorism will only result in the deaths of more innocent people and greater international condemnation of the LTTE, " he said.
He said that his current visit here was unrelated to Norway's efforts to bring the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government to the negotiating table but the United States strongly backs Norway's efforts to facilitate a dialogue between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.
He urged Sri Lanka's main political parties to forge a common bipartisan approach to deal with peace negotiations to end the 17-year old ethnic conflict in the country.
He emphasized that the United States supports Sri Lanka for its territorial integrity. The US has announced that it will not recognize a separate Tamil state carved out by Tiger rebels.
He made the remarks one day after the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran announced his unconditional resumption of peace talks with the government in his annual Hero's Day speech on Monday.
Inderfurth arrived here on Monday for a two-day visit. Sri Lanka is his first leg of four-country South Asian tour, which will also take him to India, Nepal and Bhutan.
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