Colombo wants the guerrillas to go back to negotiations even though Sri lanka rejected their claim for a de facto separate state.
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Monday invited Tamil Tigers to enter peace negotiations despite the escalation of violence and fears that the island was slowly and steadily drifting towards full-scale hostilities. The government’s peace secretariat coordinating the Norwegian-backed peace efforts said Colombo wanted the guerrillas to go back to negotiations even though Sri lanka rejected their claim for a de facto separate state.
“Neither the government of Sri Lanka nor any other member of the International Community recognises a “de facto State of Tamil Eelam,” the peace secretariat said. “This remains a myth.” “The LTTE dominates the districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in the Northern province, as well as pockets of territory elsewhere in the North and the East which are by no means contiguous.”
The remarks were in response to a statement by the Tigers after their abortive talks in Oslo with the Sri Lankan government that they will work towards a settlement for self determination.
Monday’s invitation to the Tigers came amid moves by peace broker Norway to salvage the collapsing peace process. Norway’s top peace envoy Erik Solheim asked both Colombo and the Tigers to re-confirm their willingness to continue with the initiative after failing to arrange a face-to-face meeting between the parties 11 days ago in Oslo.
Diplomats said Oslo expected a response from the Tigers by Tuesday and that several envoys were due to travel to the LTTE-held areas for fresh talks with Tigers. Tigers said that they will retaliate if the military resumes air attacks against them, and the pro-rebel Tamilnet reported that Supersonic war planes were seen flying over rebel-held territory. More than 50 people were killed in a weekend surge of violence.
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