Up President George H. W. Bush addresses the Private Sector Summit on Post-Tsunami Reconstruction and Rehabilitation which concluded in Washington on May 12. Chairman Asia Society Ambassador Richard C. Holebrooke looks on. Down TAFREN Chairman Mano Tittawella addressing the meeting.
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Akashi said that Sri Lanka is facing a critical period in its political life. He described the situation in Sri Lanka as a state of no war and no real peace. He hoped the country would be in a state of greater stability and prosperity soon. He said they were concerned on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, series of political killings in the east and also in Colombo. He said he was not placing the blame on either side but, noticed that political leaders had increased their security. He pointed out that killings enhanced the mutual distrust between different parties.
Speaking on the proposed joint mechanism between the government and the LTTE, the Japanese diplomat said President Kumaratunga had indicated she would make a final decision on the joint mechanism in the near future. Akashi was full of admiration for the stand Kumaratunga is taking on the joint mechanism. Akashi said he respected the position taken by the JVP and other political parties. "I expect all leaders to state their position, listen to their viewpoint and for them to find a suitable solution. I hope President Kumaratunga will make the right decision after consultations with other groups" added Akashi
The LTTE political leadership had expressed hope that the joint mechanism would be signed and implemented soon since it would be helpful in the delivery of assistance to the affected people. However, Akashi said, in the absence of a joint mechanism the government and the donor countries have to find an alternate solution.
Speaking on the donor forum scheduled to be held in Kandy from Monday, Akashi said "LTTE told me that they were not invited to the donor forum. It is up to the government to decide who should be invited. May be there is a good reason to invite them. But, we must respect the decision of the government." Akashi pointed out that Japan had a strong sense of solidarity with Sri Lanka. He assured that Japan nor will the international community not interfere in the domestic affairs of Sri Lanka.
Akashi who is here on his 10th visit to Sri Lanka as the Japanese Peace Envoy, met with the JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, Secretary-General of the Peace Secretariat Jayantha Dhanpala, SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem, TNA parliamentarians, TULF leader V. Anandasangaree, Members of the Muslim Peace Secretariat, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, LTTE political wing leader Thamil Chelvam, He will travel to Kandy tomorrow to participate in the donor forum.
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The finance ministry says it has received commitments from foreign donors for US$1.5 billion (euro1.15 billion) out of an estimated US$2 billion (euro1.53 billion) needed for rebuilding projects over the next three to four years.
That amount is enough to rebuild coasts devastated by the December tsunami, which killed more than 31,000 people across Sri Lanka and affected 1 million others, the ministry says.
But politically, the issue at center stage is whether the Tamil Tiger rebels should have the right to control some of the aid in the areas they rule.
It's a powerful issue on this tropical island, which has seen two decades of war driven by the ethnic divide between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. The war has left 65,000 people dead, and put the Tiger rebels firmly in control of much of the island's north and east.
International donors are meeting in this central Sri Lankan town starting Monday to review Sri Lanka's needs and discuss development issues.
By now, many thought, a long-planned joint agency between the government and the Tigers would have been created _ a mechanism to oversee the distribution of foreign aid in guerrilla-controlled areas.
Residents in those regions have long complained of a lack of assistance, but international donors are reluctant to give aid funds directly to the guerrillas, who are listed as terrorists by the United States and two other nations.
The joint body, though, remains mired in politics.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga had proposed the joint body, but the Marxist People's Liberation Front, her main ally in the coalition government, has threatened to withdraw if the plan goes ahead, saying it would help the rebels attain their goal of a separate Tamil state. The front controls 39 seats in the country's 225-member Parliament, and Kumaratunga's government could collapse without its support.
``The prime concern for all political parties has been to keep their vote bank intact. Therefore, no national party is willing to be seen to supporting a joint mechanism for Tamil areas,'' said Ilayathamby Dayananda, a Tamil analyst.
``The country is going nowhere with these politics,'' he said.
Rebel supporters see an even more ominous situation.
``As the proposed joint mechanism ... remains mired in Sinhala political maneuvering, deep skepticism has replaced early optimism among the Tamils,'' said the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site, in an analysis of the situation. ``More ominously, a belief is rapidly taking root that Colombo is playing for time and keeping the northeast in the economic and social doldrums while developing the Sri Lankan military for a new war.''
As the extent of tsunami's devastation unfolded in both government and rebel-held areas, many Sri Lankans hoped the tragedy would help the two sides work together.
``When the tsunami struck, help came spontaneously from people irrespective of ethnic, religious or political differences,'' said Kanagalingam Sivajilingam, a lawmaker from the Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance.
``But from the moment politics came into play, there has come a situation where people are not getting any relief whatsoever. This is a serious humanitarian issue, where petty politics should not come in,'' he said.
Suspected rebels kill former fighter in eastern Sri Lanka, military says
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Ponniah Thamilvanan, 27, was gunned down in Batticaloa district, 220 kilometers (135 miles) east of the capital Colombo, military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said.
Thamilvanan left the group a few months ago and spurned the Tigers' requests to rejoin, said Ratnayake.
Tamil Tiger officials were not immediately available for comment.
Sri Lanka's east has been a hotbed of violence since a senior Tamil Tiger commander broke away from the group last year with some 6,000 fighters in an unprecedented split.
The mainstream Tigers have accused the renegade faction's leaders of collaborating with government forces to attack them.
Continued violence has threatened to derail a cease-fire signed three years ago by the government and the rebels that halted a two-decade civil war.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam began fighting in 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. About 65,000 people were killed before the truce.
Peace talks have been stalled for more than two years due to differences over how much power should be devolved to the island's Tamil-majority north and east.
Khalid
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