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Sri Lankan Govt Urges Tamil Rebels Not to Squander Chance for Peace
The Sri Lankan government has repeated its call to separatist Tamil Tiger rebels to engage honestly and swiftly in commencing peace negotiations with the government and not to squander valuable opportunity for peace in the war-torn country.
In a statement issued Saturday night by the Ministry of Information and Media on halting of four-month unilateral ceasefire declared by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels last week, the government reiterated its readiness to start talks with the Tiger rebels as early as possibly and urged the rebels not lose the chance for peace.
The government accused the LTTE rebels of violating their unilateral ceasefire on more than 224 occasions during the past four months.
"It has been the Government's view that this was not a genuine unilateral ceasefire but rather a unilateral effort at international deception," the statement said.
During a recent visit of Norwegian Ambassador Jon Westborgls to Wanni, the LTTE headquaters in the north of the country, the rebels have failed to finalize a document concerning humanitarian measures to be implemented as a foundation on which negotiations can take place.
"The latest action of the LTTE fully justifies the Government's decision not to reciprocate its unilateral ceasefire. The LTTE has once against proved that it cannot be trusted on the issue of a genuine ceasefire," said the statement.
The government said that it will not allow itself to be misled once against by the LTTE concerning the ceasefire due to their past record.
The LTTE rebels had entered into peace talks on several occasions in the past with the government but they violated agreements with the government and resumed fighting later on.
The government said early this month that it will announce a timetable for talks with LTTE rebels by the end of this month.
However, fierce fighting between government forces and the LTTE rebels erupted in the northern Jaffna peninsula on Wednesday, only hours after the rebels called off their unilateral four-month ceasefire. The three-day fighting have inflicted heavy casualties on both sides.
For some weeks the Government has been ready, and remains ready today, to finalize and formalize the document on the implementation of humanitarian measures, to commence the implementation of these measures with the assistance of monitors to commence political negotiations at the earliest possible agreed date and pursue them expeditiously," the statement said.
Analysts said that the latest fierce fighting in the north of the country has dashed hope for an early talks between the two sides.
The LTTE rebels have been fighting against government forces since 1983 for a separatist Tamil homeland in the north and east of the country. The bloody war has claimed over 60,000 lives.
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