Colombo is ready for immediate peace talks with Tamil Tiger guerrillas, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said here Saturday.
Tamil rebel supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran appeared to have softened his stand a little bit, he added.
"It does look as though he is being more open," Kadirgamar told AFP after addressing foreign correspondents here.
"I think Prabhakaran is being a little more realistic," he said, saying the Tamil separatist rebel leader was apparently influenced by the "international community's stand that Sri Lanka's territorial integrity and unity is inviolable."
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fighting for an independent homeland in the island nation's north-east which has claimed more than 60,000 lives over the past two decades.
Kadirgamar, however, ruled out peace talks before the year end, despite saying Colombo was ready for dialogue "forthwith" with the rebel group.
"There are no intentions, certainly not on our part nor on the part of the LTTE," he said, when asked if the talks would take place before December 31.
"There is no magic in that date. For one thing the president (Chandrika Kumaratunga, currently vacationing in Britain) won't be back in Colombo. If I can let you in on a secret, I won't be back either."
Kadirgamar, who had held talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh after his arrival here late Thursday, said India was being kept abreast of all peace developments.
He said a Norwegian-backed peace initiative was reaping some results compared to an abortive peace bid with the rebels in 1995.
"One notable difference is that there is a facilitator on the scene. We had four rounds of direct talks in 1995 and it came to nought.
"The world situation has also changed," he said, adding there was a consensus that the aspirations of the Tamil people had to be worked out within Sri Lanka's "territorial unity and integrity."
The minister said another factor that could possibly lead Prabhakaran to the negotiating table was the fact that the Sri Lankan army, which had suffered severe reverses in the island's north in May, had "reversed the situation.
"Mr Prabhakaran may be coming to the conclusion that there is no salvation in war alone."
Kadirgamar said Prabhakaran appeared to be insisting on a reduction in the scale of hostilities as a condition for talks, but insisted this was not necessary.
"Enough time has been wasted, let us start talks now," he said. "Reciprocal gestures (from Colombo to anything the LTTE might offer) are not necessary at this time. They have been fighting us for 20 years.
"They don't need to be pampered in any way."
The minister added that the LTTE was not to be trusted as it regrouped and rearmed during a truce and then launched surprise offensives against Sri Lankan forces -- NEW DELHI (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
