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Sri Lanka's Peace Talks Likely to Be Held Amid War: Report
Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels are likely to agree to hold peace talks with the government while the 18-year ethnic war between the two parties is continuing, The Island newspaper said on Wednesday.
The paper quoted an unidentified official as saying on Tuesday that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has no option but to come for talks with the government.
The official said that the possible peace talks between the two sides could be held at home or abroad.
He added that the LTTE is under tremendous pressure abroad to engage in a dialogue with the government. The talks would not jeopardize the fighting situation in the northern Jaffna peninsula, the center of the long-running ethnic war, as long as there was no ceasefire at least on the part of the government, he stressed.
Since last September government forces intensified their military offensive against LTTE rebels in the north, almost all of the area is now under their control. The Elephant Pass, an isthmus connecting Jaffna peninsula with the mainland of the island country, which was lost to LTTE rebels in April last year, is still in their hands.
During her meeting with Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim who concluded his latest peace mission here last week, President Chandrika Kumaratunga reiterated the government's stand that talks with the Tiger rebels could be held but no ceasefire would be imposed.
She also indicated that there was positive response from LTTE rebels concerning possible peace talks with the government.
The LTTE rebels have announced the extension of the unilateral ceasefire for one more month till the 24th of this month but the government has not reciprocated their truce offer.
The rebels have been fighting since 1983 against government forces in the north and east of the country for an independent state for minority Tamils there.
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