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by Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

The chief negotiator and political advisor of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Anton Balasingham put forward four main pre-conditions for the Norwegian peace negotiations to start afresh and demanded Eric Solheim should be reinstated as chief negotiator as one of those conditions.

Declaring that the PA-JVP memorandum of understanding a serious blow to the peace process the Liberation Tigers negotiator also demanded that clause 20 of the PA-JVP agreement should be annulled immediately as another pre-condition for the proposed peace negotiations.

Laying down the pre-conditions through a statement issued to, a LTTE organ, the Tamil Guardian, Balasingham also demanded the total lifting of the economic embargo, a term the terrorist group uses to identify banned goods, that the government claims, are used to manufacture explosives or military related structures - for a specific period of time - in the Tamil areas - to create normalcy.

In their issue dated Wednesday September 12 Anton Balasingham was also quoted by the Tamil Guardian as having demanded the de-proscription of the terrorist group as a recognition of the LTTE as the authentic representative of the people of Tamil Eelam for another pre-condition for the talks.

Balasingham alleged one of the clauses of the memorandum of understanding reached between the PA and the JVP strictly forbade any discussions on proposals related to the solution to the Tamil problem.

The LTTE negotiator was quoted by the Tamil Guardian as having dismissed the statements of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar to the effect that the PA-JVP agreement would not affect the peace talks as utter nonsense. Demanding clause 20 of the PA-JVP agreement should be annulled Balasingham reportedly said under the clause proposals of devolution of power and any other proposals could not be taken up for discussion during a probationary period of one year of the Government.

The truth is said Balasingham according to the statement that the PA-JVP agreement has made the peace talks an impossible task.

Blaming the Government for killing the Norwegian peace effort by what he called a pathological suspicion that Eric Solheim was partial and favourably disposed towards the LTTE, Balasingham said the act of the government was a diplomatic blunder. He reportedly emphasised that the Norwegian facilitatory process could only be resurrected by making the once demoted Solheim, as the Chief negotiator.

Balasingham also reportedly warned if there was no Sinhala consensus on the core demands enunciated at Thimpu talks the Tamils would be left to seek their own path to liberation.

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