Colombo, Nov 01: The historic power-sharing plan announced by Tamil Tiger guerrillas rely heavily on a constitutional amendment based on the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka peace accord which the rebels repudiated at the time. The interim self-governing authority proposed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has as its centrepiece the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution setting up provincial councils.
The foundation for a federal state structure in Sri Lanka was laid with the 13th amendment that was introduced as a direct result of the Indo-Sri Lanka peace pact which tried, but failed to end Tamil separatism. The Tigers labelled those who supported the peace pact as traitors and wiped them out in a bloody campaign that also killed at least 1,200 Indian troops sent to the island for peace keeping duties.

Western and Asian diplomatic sources here saw the LTTE proposals, the first ever blue print by the tigers for politically ending ethnic violence in the island, as a practical document that was "do-able."
Bureau Report