No decision yet on seeking amnesty, says ULFA

The proscribed ULFA said it has not yet decided on asking for general amnesty in view of the insurgent outfit holding talks with the Centre on February 10.

"The ULFA has not yet taken any decision on asking for general amnesty from the government", ULFA "foreign secretary" Sasadhar Choudhury told reporters here today.

Asked if the ULFA would go for ceasefire in view of the unconditional talks with the Centre on February 10 in Delhi, Choudhury said, "There is no ceasefire yet. Our central executive committee has to decide on ceasefire".

"The (counter-insurgency) operations are on against the ULFA as we have not declared ceasefire", he said.

Asked if the ULFA would surrender its unlicensed arms to the government prior to the upcoming state assembly polls as per directions of the Election Commission, he said, "We don't have much arms".

He also declined to give the number of ULFA cadres by smiling when asked about the figure.

Asked why there was nobody present on behalf of the ULFA in a court in Delhi recently to ask for withdrawal of the ban on the outfit, Choudhury said, "we are from the jungles. We don't understand anything about bans".

On January 31, a tribunal headed by Delhi high court judge Mukta Gupta had issued notices to Nagaland and Meghalaya governments on the Centre's plea seeking its nod to extend the ban on the ULFA by two more years.