Sri Lanka willing to hold talks outside the country
COLOMBO: Japan on Sunday offered to host direct talks between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to "review the operation" of the ceasefire agreement (CFA).
The offer by Tokyo's visiting special representative Yasushi Akashi follows a change in Colombo's position that the talks should be held inside Sri Lanka.
"The Government told me that it is willing to have negotiations outside the country, preferably in Asia," Mr. Akashi told a press conference. "Japan is ready to host such direct negotiations, provided the two parties are agreeable to it and also with the facilitators and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) participating as appropriate." "What is envisaged is review of the operational aspects, not the review of the agreement as such."
Colombo's call for a review ran into a deadlock as the LTTE insisted that the talks be held either in rebel-held territory or abroad. The LTTE rejected Norway's proposal to hold the talks at the international airport near Colombo.
Mr. Akashi, who announced Colombo's flexibility after meeting President Mahinda Rajapakse last week, said the new Government was giving "the highest priority" to the peace process and that was formulating a "comprehensive approach" to end the conflict, not merely an aggregation of the transitional approaches.
In a departure from his routine as Tokyo's special representative, Mr. Akashi did not meet the LTTE during his visit. "I have decided to comply with the wishes of the Government which is engaged in a very comprehensive review of the situation of peace."
Asked about media reports that India could join Norway, Japan, the E.U. and the U.S. as a co-chair for the efforts to back the peace process, Mr. Akashi said: "I don't think that question arises," as the current co-chairs had hosted the aid support conference in 2003.
No comments:
Post a Comment