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LTTE committed to political settlement of conflict - G.L.

by Manjula Fernando and Rajmi Manatunga

Cabinet Spokesman Prof.G.L.Peiris yesterday vehemently denied news reports that the LTTE has rejected the US call for renunciation of violence.

Quoting the speech made by Dr. Anton Balasingham following the US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage at the Oslo donor conference where he had stated "we will not resort to war or violence...", Prof.Peiris said at yesterday's weekly Cabinet briefing what everyone present there understood by his words was that the LTTE was as committed to a political settlement to the conflict as the Government.

He said this was repeated by the LTTE leader in his Heroes Day speech on Wednesday when he said they were moving away from their earlier demand for a separate state as the LTTE has to attune itself to global changes.

In response to a question on Prabhakaran's mention of a separate state if their wishes for regional self-rule were not met, the Cabinet Spokesman said it was a hypothetical situation. There was no reason to anticipate a failure as the Government was confident of the success of the peace process.

"When you compare the earlier Heroes Day speeches by the LTTE leader and Wednesday's speech there is a world of difference between them. This is not coincidental but an achievement of the Peace Process," he said.

Prof. Peiris said the Oslo conference was a great achievement for the Government where the international community showed that they stood by the Sri Lanka Peace Process.

"The International community gave a clear message to the LTTE that they should commit themselves to a political solution within the framework of a single nation. Especially the US, UK and Japan insisted on it."

Commenting on the absence of high level Indian representation at the parley Prof. Peiris said the Government had no doubt about Indian support for the Peace Process which has been clearly indicated by the allocation of US $ 200 million. "This is much more than what we raised at the Oslo conference," he said. 

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