Associated Press, Mon October 23, 2006 08:11 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lanka - 's main opposing political parties on Monday pledged to cooperate to settle renewed conflict with the Tamil Tiger rebels, as two people, including a Hindu priest, were reported killed in the country's volatile north. Meanwhile, officials of the ruling coalition's Sri Lanka - Freedom Party and the main opposition, United National Party, signed an agreement at a ceremony at President Mahinda Rajapakse's official residence. The UNP will support the government ``in the pursuit of a negotiated settlement to the ongoing conflict while opposing terrorism in all its manifestations,'' the agreement said.
The agreement comes as the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels are preparing for peace talks in Switzerland on Oct. 28-29.
The parties also agreed to cooperate in areas such as electoral reforms, good governance and social development.
The parties together control 125 seats in Sri Lanka - 's 225-member Parliament, and their consensus is vital to muster a two-thirds majority to push through any constitutional reforms that would allow power sharing with minority groups.
The LTTE rebels, who have fought against the government since 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, have long claimed that bickering between the two main parties in Parliament has made a political settlement impossible.
Fighting between the rebels and the government killed 65,000 people before a Norway brokered cease-fire signed in 2002 temporarily halted the bloodshed. But renewed violence has killed 2,000 people this year, even though both the government and the rebels claim that they are honoring the cease-fire.
No comments:
Post a Comment