Colombo, Sept 12: Tamil Tiger rebels today boycotted a key international aid meet called here by Japan to review the progress since foreign donors pledged 4.5 billion dollars to rebuild Sri Lanka.
Japan's special envoy Yasushi Akashi, who headed the meeting, attended by 12 countries and seven international agencies, said the donors pledged to spend over 4.5 billion dollars to rebuild Sri Lanka despite setbacks in the peace process. He said the donors were "disappointed" that the LTTE boycotted meeting, but were "cautiously optimistic" that the island nation could eventually have durable peace. "We hope they will be able to restart the peace process soon." India, which kept away from the meeting, had made it clear that it cannot attend at a high level any forum where Tamil Tiger rebels would be present.

"It is a question of sending a message that our participation or otherwise would not depend on the tigers," an Indian diplomatic source said. "We support the peace process and we do it in so many ways without a big song or dance."
Bureau Report