SATTAHIP, Sept 15: Arrangements have been finalized for the three-day talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elaam (LTTE), scheduled to begin on Monday at the Sattahip Naval base, about 150km from Bangkok.
The LTTE, which had been fighting for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka for the last 19 years, is now poised to talk with the Sri Lankan government of a possibility of power-sharing and taking over the interim administration of the Tamil-populated north-east of the country.
While talks would be held in a closed-door session, the opening ceremony of the event would be open to press, authorities at the Ambassador City Jontium, the venue for the press briefings regarding the event, said.
The peace talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government are expected to break ice with the crucial issue of devolution of power being delayed till either the second or third round of talks, analysts said.
Meanwhile, Industrial and Constitutional Affairs Minister, G. L. Peiris, a key figure in the peace negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, said on Saturday that the peace talks would be “a beginning” which would pave the way for trust and understanding and resolution of humanitarian problems the long-drawn separatist war has caused for the people.
Talking to Dawn at the Colombo Airport prior to his departure for Thailand, the minister said while both the LTTE and the government were of the view that the issues pertaining to a final peaceful conclusion of the ethnic question in Sri Lanka could not be solved “overnight”, full commitment would be given by the government to solve three key humanitarian aspects of the war in the first round of talks.
“We will initially concentrate on the resettlement of the hundreds of people, both Tamils and Muslims in the North and East. The de-mining and the distribution of funds to the region for rehabilitation would be the two main areas of concentration as well,” Peiris said.
