S.Lankan Govt Firmly Committed to Negotiated Settlement of ConflictThe Sri Lankan government is firmly committed to a negotiated settlement of the 18-year conflict in the country despite new demands made by the Tamil Tiger rebels for peace talks with the government, the state-run Sunday Observer said.A senior government official quoted by the paper as saying that this seems to be a series of new demands and conditions imposed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and could be their usual delaying tactics. But this would not deter the government from its commitment to negotiations, he added. The government is awaiting a briefing by Norwegian ambassador Jon Westborg on the substance of the discussions with the LTTE before defining its posture, the paper said. Westborg held lengthy talks with Thamilchelvam, LTTE political wing leader on Friday and Saturday in Wanni, the LTTE headquarters in the north of the country. During the talks the LTTE rebels demanded that the government lift ban on the organization and impose a reciprocal ceasefire before peace talks with the government. The LTTE also wants the government to allow the fuel and cement to be sent to the rebel-held area. The government has lifted restrictions on 22 essential commodities and allowed them to flow to the rebel-controlled war zones. The LTTE has extended their unilateral ceasefire by one more month till April 24 and warned that they would break it if the government wound not respond positively. Their ceasefire began on the Christmas Eve last year. The government has maintained that a reciprocal ceasefire is possible only after talks between the two sides made substantive progress. The LTTE rebels have been fighting against government forces since 1983 in the north and east of the country for a separate Tamil state. So far more than 60,000 people have been killed in the bloody war. |
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