Sri Lanka's moderate Tamil political leaders Wednesday urged the government and Tamil Tiger rebels to abandon their hardline positions and enter talks without pre-conditions.
Moderate parties welcomed the government's announcement Tuesday that it was ready to enter talks with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but said both sides must be willing to make a start without imposing conditions.
"We welcome the government saying that it wants to open talks," said former legislator Dharmalingam Sidharthan who leads the Democratic People's Liberation Front (DPLF).
"The LTTE says there is mistrust on both sides, so they should start talking and during these talks they can address the issue of building trust. Both should not put conditions before talks begin."
Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said Tuesday the government was ready to open Norwegian-backed peace talks immediately in a bid to end decades of ethnic bloodshed, but categorically rejected a ceasefire.
Kadirgamar said political talks with the LTTE "can and should begin forthwith."
"There is no reason why the talks can't start immediately," Kadirgamar said. "The war will go on with full force as even as the talks go on. There will be no de-escalation at the outset of talks."
However, another moderate Tamil party, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) said the government must not give LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran an excuse to back out of talks.
"Prabhakaran has for the first time broached the subject of a negotiated peace," TULF senior vice president. V. Anandasangari said.
"By saying no to a ceasefire before the talks, the government should not give the LTTE an opportunity to back out."
Anandasangari said having Norway as a facilitator could help sort out ambiguities in the LTTE's offer of talks made on November 27.
The government on Tuesday ruled out agreeing to "conditions of normalcy" which the LTTE had insisted on before any dialogue could resume and made it clear there could not be any withdrawal of troops from the embattled northeast.
Kadirgamar said they were not imposing conditions on the LTTE which is fighting for an independent homeland in the island's northeast, but wanted to ensure that talks on "core issues" were concluded within a specified period.
"The core issues as the government has consistently maintained are the stoppage of war, the stoppage of all terrorist killings, the resolution of the Tamil people's problems through negotiated political settlement," he said.
"The government is not prepared to enter into any bargains or trade-offs on terrorism," the minister said, when asked if Colombo would continue to ask other governments to outlaw the LTTE.
Neighbouring India and the United States have also outlawed the LTTE, and Colombo's request for Britain to place the rebels on its list of terrorist organisations is said to be under "very serious consideration".
The government's talks offer came six days ahead of a crucial meeting in Paris of the island's aid donors.
Sri Lanka is keen to win credit for its peace bid and cash to revive the economy dented by ever escalating defence expenditure that is steadily draining foreign reserves.
Kadirgamar said careful reading of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's November 27 speech revealed that his readiness for peace talks was "not without ambiguity."
Prabhakaran on November 27 offered "unconditional" talks with the government, but insisted there should be "conditions of normalcy" to the Norwegian-backed negotiations.
"We are not imposing any pre-conditions for peace talks," Prabhakaran said. "Yet, we insist on the creation of a cordial atmosphere and conditions of normalcy conducive for peace negotiations." -- COLOMBO (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
