Colombo, June 01: Sri Lanka's peace prospects have dimmed as Tamil Tiger rebels resist international pressure and insist on political power ahead of a final settlement, diplomats and officials said today. After labelling six rounds of negotiations with the Colombo government as a "waste of time," the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Friday rejected an offer of greater financial authority in return for ending their boycott of peace talks.
"The Tigers are making a serious miscalculation by not attending talks, and particularly the donors meeting in Tokyo," a senior western diplomat here said referring to the aid pledging conference Japan is hosting on June 9-10.
The diplomat said the Tigers may be underestimating the will of the United States, European nations, Japan and neighbouring India in strongly backing the Norwegian-led peace initiative to end Sri Lanka's ethnic bloodshed.
However, the LTTE's London-based chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, said on Friday the rebels were unhappy with the international community's increased role in Sri Lanka.
"We are also concerned over the growing involvement in the peace process of formidable international forces from whom you have been soliciting not only aid but the setting up of a grand international 'safety net' to bring undue pressure on the freedom of our people to determine their political status and destiny," Balasingham said in a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The LTTE pulled out of peace talks on April 21 and since then there have been growing demands, including from the G8 foreign ministers, that the Tigers resume talks and attend the Tokyo donors conference. Bureau Report