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S.Lanka's Tamil Political Parties Urge Govt to Accept Rebels' Truce Offer
Sri Lanka's ten Tamil political parties on Wednesday urged the government to accept the one-month unilateral ceasefire offered by the Tamil Tiger rebels last month, saying it was a means of finding a permanent solution to the country's drawn out ethnic conflict.
"We strongly believe that the LTTE is serious in this offer. We also believe that the Tamil speaking people of this country are in favor of a ceasefire." said N. Srikanthan, leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) at a news conference held here on Wednesday evening.
He said that it was the responsibility of President Kumaratunga to respond positively to the ceasefire offer by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
General Secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) A. Vinayagamurthy reiterated that the only solution to the country's ethnic conflict was for the concerned parties to enter into negotiations.
The party leaders also said that they will obtain assistance of the international community to exert pressure on the government as well as the LTTE in this regard.
The LTTE rebels declared on December 21 last year that they will start a month-long ceasefire from midnight on December 24 " as a goodwill measure to facilitate the peace process."
However, the government responded to the LTTE ceasefire offer two days later by saying it will consider a ceasefire only after peace negotiations between the government and the LTTE rebels proceed to the mutual satisfaction of both sides.
Following the LTTE truce offer government troops intensified their military campaign against the rebels in a bid to force them to the negotiation table.
The LTTE rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil state in the north and east of the country. In the past they had peace negotiations with the government several times but later they violated agreements with the government and resumed fighting again.
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