Major Hurdles Still in Way of Sri Lankan Peace Process

Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim concluded on Saturday his fresh effort to push for talks between the Sri Lankan government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels without any breakthrough made and the major hurdles are still in the way of peace process in the war-torn country.

Solheim, who arrived on Tuesday, traveled to Wanni, headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in the north of the country on the following day and returned to capital Colombo on Friday. He again failed to reach agreement with LTTE rebels on issues related to the start of long-awaited peace talks.

The LTTE said in a statement issued on Friday after talks between Thamil Chelvam, leader of the political wing of the LTTE, and Solhiem that they want truce, removal of the economic embargo on rebel areas and lifting of the ban on their organization from the government before they enter into peace talks.

These are preconditions which have virtually been in place as early as in early November last year when Solheim held rare talks in Wanni with rebel leader Verupellai Prabhakaran who offered unconditional talks with the government. Almost immediately after the talks the LTTE put forward these preconditions in a statement issued from their London office.

One of the positive results of Solheim's visit at the time is that he prompted LTTE to announce a one-month unilateral ceasefire which they renewed every month till April 24.

The government has remained adamant that they will not reciprocate the LTTE truce offer as requested, fearing that the rebels would regroup and resume fighting against them.

However, the government's stance on the ceasefire issue has softened recently. The government has indicated that they are ready to agree to a de-escalation of hostility or informal ceasefire in the north and east of the country to get the talks between the two sides started at an early date.

Last month, the government agreed to allow 21 items of goods to flow to the rebel-held areas.

But the LTTE rebels want more than what the government has offered. They insist on a formal ceasefire and lifting economic embargo imposed on the areas controlled by them.

Besides, the LTTE want the government to lift the ban on them.

They said they would not enter into talks with the government if the ban remains in place. Lifting the ban is the toughest problem for the government to solve.

With the consistent effort by the government, Britain banned the LTTE in February in accordance with its new anti-terrorism laws. The U.S. also listed the LTTE as a foreign terrorist group in October 1997.

India banned the LTTE after the rebels emerged as the mastermind in the May 1991 assassination of its former premier Rajiv Gandhi.

The LTTE was banned in the country in January 1998, a day after the rebels launched a devastating suicide bomb attack against the holiest Buddhist temple in the central town of Kandy.

It sounds absurd that the government will agree to the lifting of the ban on the LTTE rebels while it has been making efforts to win more countries to proscribe the organization.

Early last month the government was so optimistic about the start of the peace talks that they said they would announce a date for talks by the end of that month. Unfortunately, ferocious fighting between the two sides late in the month which left 400 killed and thousand wounded on both sides dampened the peace hope.

The conflict in the country, which has claimed more than 60,000 lives, has been going on for 18 years. More efforts are needed for both sides to solve their difference concerning the key issues before the talks hopefully start, observers noted.

Solheim said that at the present stage the two sides were close to agreeing on issues related to halt in military operations and measures to alleviate the living conditions for the civilian population, but agreement has not yet been reached on certain matters related to the commencement of the peace talks.

He said Norway would continue its efforts in keeping close contacts with the parties and encouraging them to refrain from military operations.

It is reported that Solheim will go to London to meet Anton Balasingham for further talks with the rebels in an attempt to make a deal with them.

It is encouraging that the LTTE rebels has admitted that substantial progress has been made on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) proposed by Norway. The MOU aims at de- escalation of hostility between the two sides and creation of cordial atmosphere for possible peace talks.

The state-run Sunday Observer also voiced optimism that a little fine tuning is likely to resolve the issues of lifting economic embargo on rebel-held areas and a cessation of hostilities between the two sides.






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