- News>
- Asia
Sri Lanka rebels say election a setback to peace
Colombo, Feb 09: Sri Lanka`s Tamil tiger rebels said a snap poll called by the president at the weekend was a ``grave setback`` to peace efforts, but added they would stick to a February 2002 ceasefire with the government.
Colombo, Feb 09: Sri Lanka's Tamil tiger rebels said a snap poll called by the president at the weekend was a ''grave setback'' to peace efforts, but added they would stick to a February 2002 ceasefire with the government.
''Our liberation organisation will rigidly observe the ceasefire regulations and maintain peace,'' the rebels' chief negotiator Anton Balasingham was quoted as saying on the Tamilnet website today. President Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved parliament yesterday and set a vote for April 2, further delaying efforts to restart peace talks that had been on hold since the rebels suspended talks 10 months ago.
Kumaratunga, who takes a harder line on the rebels than prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, called the election to try to break a stalemate between the two -- who are elected separately and from rival parties -- over how to handle the peace bid.
''The irrational lack of consensus among the Sinhala ruling elites on the resolution of the ethnic conflict has plunged the entire country into serious political instability,'' Balasingham, who is based in London, said.
The rebels have said they will negotiate with any leader who wins a mandate. But they have made no secret of their dislike for Kumaratunga, who they tried to kill in a 1999 suicide bomb attack.
The Norwegian-brokered ceasefire has given Sri Lanka its longest lull in fighting since the 1983 start of the war that killed 64,000, paving the way for talks that were thought to be its best chance yet for permanent peace.
Bureau Report
''Our liberation organisation will rigidly observe the ceasefire regulations and maintain peace,'' the rebels' chief negotiator Anton Balasingham was quoted as saying on the Tamilnet website today. President Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved parliament yesterday and set a vote for April 2, further delaying efforts to restart peace talks that had been on hold since the rebels suspended talks 10 months ago.
Kumaratunga, who takes a harder line on the rebels than prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, called the election to try to break a stalemate between the two -- who are elected separately and from rival parties -- over how to handle the peace bid.
''The irrational lack of consensus among the Sinhala ruling elites on the resolution of the ethnic conflict has plunged the entire country into serious political instability,'' Balasingham, who is based in London, said.
The rebels have said they will negotiate with any leader who wins a mandate. But they have made no secret of their dislike for Kumaratunga, who they tried to kill in a 1999 suicide bomb attack.
The Norwegian-brokered ceasefire has given Sri Lanka its longest lull in fighting since the 1983 start of the war that killed 64,000, paving the way for talks that were thought to be its best chance yet for permanent peace.
Bureau Report