June 7, 2002	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 25,1423

COLOMBO, June 6: Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has given an assurance of removing a local ban imposed on the LTTE, sources in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said on Wednesday, after meeting the premier.

R. Sampanthan, General Secretary of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), a member of the alliance, told Dawn that the prime minister appeared “pragmatic” and “reasonable” and did not disagree with any of the proposals put forward by the TNA.

“He gave us the assurance that the ban would be definitely lifted and that it would be done speedily in order not to postpone the peace talks any further.”

PARLIAMENT: The TNA members of parliament, speaking in a debate in parliament on Tuesday, had called for the lifting of a ban on the LTTE.

The MPs said lifting of the ban was an essential prerequisite to peace talks to be held in Thailand.

Speaking at the session, Mr Joseph Pararajasingham said prolonging the ban would delay the holding of talks between the LTTE and the government.