New Delhi, Nov 28: LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran has assured the European Union that he was committed to the peace process in the island nation. He gave this assurance to EU commissioner for external relations Chris Patten during their meeting at Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Talking to a select group of journalists today, Patten, who is here for the fourth India-EU summit, said Prabhakaran repeatedly assured him that he would not subvert the peace process during their meeting lasting over an hour. I hope the commitment (of Prabhakaran) is genuine, he added. Patten said he had categorically told Prabhakaran that the international community would not tolerate a divisive outcome of the peace process. The LTTE leader was told that he should abjure violence once and for all and negotiate a solution to the crisis in the island nation, which would not undermine its territorial integrity.

I made it plain that if violence returns, it will bring the impeccable condemnation and hostility of the international community, he added.

The EU official noted that the ethnic war in Sri Lanka had claimed more than 65,000 lives. He also appreciated the role of Norway in the Sri Lankan peace process. There is a cross-party consensus in favour of talks in Colombo, he added. Bureau Report