Doors open for talks

Wednesday, 13 September 2006

Govt says will not accept LTTE pre-conditions

Minister and the Defence Affairs Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the doors are opened for talks, however, the Government would not accept any pre-conditions for talks from the LTTE.

Responding to communique from the Co-Chairs meeting on the resumption of talks between the Government and the LTTE, Minister Rambukwella told that it was the LTTE that betrayed the Ceasefire Agreement and kept itself away from the peace talks, since the first round of talks held in Geneva, early this year. "The Government is always ready for talks.

We have not shut down the doors to have talks. It was the LTTE betrayed the CFA, since the first meeting was held in Geneva early this year. The Government is always ready to have talks. On the other hand the Government has all liberty to react to any issue, when the national security is under threat", Minister Rambukwella added.

Meanwhile the Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim told the AFP yesterday that the Government and the LTTE have agreed to "unconditional peace talks" in the first week of October, top Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim said yesterday.

The decision by the Government and the LTTE was discussed at a meeting of the main foreign aid donors in Brussels yesterday, Solheim said.

"The Government said it was ready for talks without any pre-conditions and the LTTE has said the same," Solheim said. "We will have the talks in the first week of October in Oslo."

The European Commission said it has received signals from both the Government and the LTTE that they are ready for talks on the settlement of their conflict "without any preconditions."

The EU executive said it would like both parties to meet in Oslo, Norway, in early October, and to review the progress of the talks later that month.

"We got the expression of willingness, we got signals from the Government and the LTTE, to come to talks unconditionally," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said, yesterday. Provided both sides agree, she said, "the meeting should take place urgently, at the beginning of October in Oslo."

Ferrero-Waldner called on both sides to immediately end the violence, which she said was damaging prospects for lasting peace. "There is a huge challenge, we want both sides back to the table," she said.