Sri Lankan Govt Firmly Committed to Usher in Peace: PresidentSri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on Monday that her government is firmly committed to usher in peace in the war-torn country despite the current deadlock in the peace process, the state-run Daily News reported on Tuesday."The government is fully committed to usher in lasting peace and we should not vacillate on this vital issue at this stage," she said. The president was addressing a ceremony on Monday marking the completion of houses in a village catered for disabled soldiers in central city of Kandy, about 130 kilometers east of capital Colombo. "This war must be executed to a finish at its earliest and it is our responsibility to do so," she said. Peace process in the country has been deadlocked over the key demand by separatist Tamil Tiger rebels to lift ban on them. They also want a formal ceasefire from the government and removal of economic embargo on areas controlled by them. The government has rejected the demand of lifting ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as unreasonable but some progress has reportedly been made on two other issues. The LTTE rebels have been fighting against government forces in the north and east of the country since 1983 for an independent Tamil homeland. The bloody war has killed more than 60,000 people. |
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