November 8, 2001	Thursday	Shaba’an 21, 1422

COLOMBO, Nov 7: Sri Lanka’s Tamil moderates on Wednesday urged the government to open peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels, saying the guerrillas appeared ready to compromise on demands for a separate state.

An alliance of four moderate Tamil parties said they believed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were ready to accept a “viable alternative” to an earlier demand for a separate state called Eelam.

“They have said they are ready...,” said V. Anandasangari, a top leader of the four-party alliance, which had at one time or the other lost its leaders at the hands of Tiger rebels.

Anandasangari, who is also the senior vice president of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), said they were prepared to allow the Tamil Tigers to negotiate a settlement to the long running conflict.

He denied the ruling People’s Alliance allegations that they were “proxies” of the Tamil Tigers and said their objective was to end the decades old conflict which has claimed more than 60,000 lives.

“We are against the division of this country,” Anandasangari said warning, however, that failure to resolve the conflict could lead to the eventual separation.

“If that (partition) happens, then the Sinhalese parties must accept responsibility for it.”

Another alliance leader, N. Srikantha, said they were also seeking the lifting of a 1998 ban on the LTTE to clear the way for immediate resumption of peace talks.

“The government must lift the ban to open talks as a legally constituted government cannot be seen as having talks with an outlawed organization,” Srikantha said.—AFP