Buoyed up over putting in place an indefinite truce with the LTTE, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday said he hoped to open preliminary talks soon on future negotiations with the rebel group and sought global help in finding a political solution. We have dealt with humanitarian issues and now we have a ceasefire. The next step is to start talks on talks through the Norwegians and then take up the main issues, Wickremesinghe told reporters.
The LTTE and the government signed a landmark accord a few days ago to begin a mutual and monitored ceasefire to create a conducive atmosphere for future direct talks to end the island's ethnic conflict.
However, he warned that real problems would arise only at the stage of substantive issues being discussed, and said he did not want to deter the LTTE from entering negotiations by imposing conditions or restrictions. We can't be too rigid regarding the talks. We should first get the LTTE to the negotiating table, he said. Issues like the venue for direct talks and whether the ban on the LTTE should be lifted would be dealt with only during the talks about talks, and not right away.
On the contours of the final solution, he said the main parties in the country wanted some sort of devolution of powers, but it might not be the sort of devolution that the LTTE wanted.
His only condition would be that any solution should be within a unified Sri Lanka. I am not saying 'no' to anything except a separate state.
Bureau Report