COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will hold peace talks with Tamil rebels, likely in early October, after pressure from foreign donors who want to stem an upsurge in violence since December that has left more than 1,500 dead, officials said on Wednesday.
The nation’s top peace official, Palitha Kohona, said the government was now working on possible dates after Norway’s top peace envoy Erik Solheim announced on Tuesday that the two sides would meet in October.
“Having the talks is something that the government is very strongly committed to,” Kohona, who is currently visiting London, said when contacted by telephone. “What we have to clarify is the date.”
His remarks were followed by a government statement that asked countries to block military supplies from reaching the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) while talks go ahead.
“The government would urge the international community to put in place a practical mechanism to prevent the illegal procurement of arms and an effective blockade to the induction of weapons by the LTTE,” the statement said.
“While the government notes the concerns, it remains fully committed to participate at peace talks with the LTTE.”
In Brussels, Solheim told a quartet of donor nations known as “co-chairs” that the warring parties were ready for talks “without any pre-conditions” in the first week of October in Oslo.
“We will have the talks in the first week of October in Oslo,” he said after addressing the co-chairs — US, Japan, European Union and Norway — who have been drumming up international support for Sri Lanka’s faltering peace bid.
The quartet has pledged billions of dollars in financial aid if the two sides move toward peace.
The LTTE and the government had a round of talks in February in Switzerland to save a 2002 ceasefire and agreed to meet in June, but the second meeting, in Oslo, was aborted.
Previous peace talks aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed came to a halt in April 2003 when the Tigers walked out.
Initially there were mixed signals from the Sri Lankan government on Solheim’s comments with Policy Planning Minister Keheliya Rambukwella saying that Colombo was not ready for unconditional talks.
Rambukwella, who is the government’s defence spokesman and does not usually comment on the peace talks, was “surprised” by Solheim’s remarks and said “the government neither agreed to unconditional talks nor was consulted.”
But on Wednesday, Kohona said both parties were expected to meet soon in Oslo, backing a statement on Tuesday by the co-chairs.
“The co-chairs welcome the expression of willingness of the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to come to talks unconditionally as conveyed to the facilitator,” they said in a statement released on Tuesday.
The tiny Colombo Stock Exchange climbed sharply with the All Share Price index recording a 2.55 per cent gain to 2,306 at closing on Wednesday.
Fighting in Sri Lanka has intensified since December, shattering hopes for the ceasefire to continue and leaving more than 1,500 dead, according to official figures. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the bitter ethnic conflict since 1972.—AFP
