Colombo, Nov 23: The Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels have made a joint appeal to the international community for immediate humanitarian and rehabilitation support in the war-ravaged north-east region. The Sub-committee on the Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Need (SIHRN), consisting of government and LTTE representatives, made the request prior to the November 25 donor community meeting in Oslo, where high-levels political delegations from several donor countries are scheduled to participate.
''Both parties recognise that unless the people urgently experience practical benefits from the process, much that has been gained can be lost,'' the government and Tigers said in the joint statement released late last night.
Reiterating their commitment to seek a peaceful resolution through political negotiations the statement said ''human rights, gender equality and democracy must be strengthened in the region in order to be sustainable.''

The statement also said both the sub-committee and the implementing agencies would comply with standard practices of accountability and transparency in the execution of their duties and that all activities under its purview would be carried out with due respect for international standards of human rights.



The Lankan delegation led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe left for Oslo today along with chief negotiator of the government delegation in the peace talks, Prof G L Peiris. Two other Cabinet ministers, Milindan Moragoda and Rauf Hakeem, presently in India to pursue New Delhi's participation in the Confab, are expected to leave for Oslo later in the day.



A delegation from the LTTE, led by its political adviser and chief negotiator Anton Balasingham, is also participating at this aid pledging conference. The Sri Lanakan government has said it was essential to accommodate the LTTE in this conference since the resources from the donor countries were to be used for rebuilding the war-ravaged north-east.



The US delegation, led by deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, and the British delegation, led by minister for international development Clare Short, are among the big donors in addition to Japan, Australian and European Union.



India has already decided not to send political or headquarter-level representation to the Oslo Confab, but said it might ask someone from the Indian mission there to attend the meeting as a viewer.


Bureau Report