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Sri Lankan official says ceasefire deal just weeks away
The Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels will sign a landmark cease-fire agreement within the next few weeks, said a top government official during a visit to Singapore Friday.
The Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels will sign a
landmark cease-fire agreement within the next few weeks, said a top government
official during a visit to Singapore Friday.
"The government is about to sign an extension of the cease-fire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam," said Sri Lanka's Board of Investment Chairman Arjuna Mahendran between meetings with Singapore's deputy prime minister and local business people. "We believe this will be on an open-ended basis, with no time frame involved," he said. Mahendran is in Singapore with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected on Dec. 5. The three-day trip to boost economic ties includes meetings with Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
A month long cease-fire agreement started on Dec. 25 and was extended for another month in January. The government of Norway is acting as an intermediary between the two sides as they broker for what could be a lasting cease-fire and pave the way for peace talks. The last such talks in 1995, ended in an impasse when the rebels resumed fighting. The cease-fire will be key to Sri Lanka's attempts to achieve a 5% gross domestic product growth this year, Mahendran told The Associated Press.
"The peace process is very key to the foreign investment issue," said Mahendran. "I think that will inspire a lot of confidence in the economy." Sri Lanka will auction off government monopolies in the petroleum, energy and telecommunication sectors starting in April. It hopes to attract foreign investment into these privatized sectors as well as into manufacturing, said Mahendran. Many foreign companies are wary of investing in the war-wracked country. Rebels from the minority Tamil population have been fighting for 18 years to carve out an independent region and end what they call oppression by Sri Lanka's dominant Sinhalese population.
Peace prospects have brightened in this tropical island of 18.6 million people since the United National Front, led by Wickremesinghe, won the Dec. 5 parliamentary elections. Wickremesinghe didn't speak to the local press. The UNF is more acceptable to the rebels than the previous government led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga's People's Alliance.
Bureau Report
"The government is about to sign an extension of the cease-fire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam," said Sri Lanka's Board of Investment Chairman Arjuna Mahendran between meetings with Singapore's deputy prime minister and local business people. "We believe this will be on an open-ended basis, with no time frame involved," he said. Mahendran is in Singapore with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected on Dec. 5. The three-day trip to boost economic ties includes meetings with Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
A month long cease-fire agreement started on Dec. 25 and was extended for another month in January. The government of Norway is acting as an intermediary between the two sides as they broker for what could be a lasting cease-fire and pave the way for peace talks. The last such talks in 1995, ended in an impasse when the rebels resumed fighting. The cease-fire will be key to Sri Lanka's attempts to achieve a 5% gross domestic product growth this year, Mahendran told The Associated Press.
"The peace process is very key to the foreign investment issue," said Mahendran. "I think that will inspire a lot of confidence in the economy." Sri Lanka will auction off government monopolies in the petroleum, energy and telecommunication sectors starting in April. It hopes to attract foreign investment into these privatized sectors as well as into manufacturing, said Mahendran. Many foreign companies are wary of investing in the war-wracked country. Rebels from the minority Tamil population have been fighting for 18 years to carve out an independent region and end what they call oppression by Sri Lanka's dominant Sinhalese population.
Peace prospects have brightened in this tropical island of 18.6 million people since the United National Front, led by Wickremesinghe, won the Dec. 5 parliamentary elections. Wickremesinghe didn't speak to the local press. The UNF is more acceptable to the rebels than the previous government led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga's People's Alliance.
Bureau Report