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Lanka, Norway discussing ways to revive peace process
Sri Lanka is seriously discussing with Norwegian peace facilitators ways in which the deadlocked peace process can be revived, foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has said.
Sri Lanka is seriously discussing with Norwegian peace facilitators ways in which the deadlocked
peace process can be revived, foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has said.
What can be the most effective way of moving forward? This has been under very serious discussion with the Norwegians in the last fortnight, Kadirgamar told state-run television in an interview last night. He said the Norwegians already had a proposal in their hands from the government under which talks could begin, based on a mutually agreed ceasefire and measures for avoidance of hardship and danger to civilians.
The government will have to issue an appeal to the LTTE to come for talks, if the opposition united national party did not agree to the idea of a joint appeal by the government and the main opposition, Kadirgamar said. A joint appeal remains the preferred option, but we are considering a unilateral appeal, if the opposition does not join us, He said.
The government had rejected a unilateral ceasefire observed by the LTTE between December 24 and April 24 as a ploy, but last week Kadirgamar told a press conference that there had been a subsequent re-assessment and that the government was now ready for a mutual ceasefire. In his interview to 'Rupavahini' on Saturday night, he narrated the ups and downs in the prolonged peace process in which Norway has been involved as a facilitator for two years, admitting some mistakes by the government, but also blaming the LTTE for its tardy progress.
Bureau Report
What can be the most effective way of moving forward? This has been under very serious discussion with the Norwegians in the last fortnight, Kadirgamar told state-run television in an interview last night. He said the Norwegians already had a proposal in their hands from the government under which talks could begin, based on a mutually agreed ceasefire and measures for avoidance of hardship and danger to civilians.
The government will have to issue an appeal to the LTTE to come for talks, if the opposition united national party did not agree to the idea of a joint appeal by the government and the main opposition, Kadirgamar said. A joint appeal remains the preferred option, but we are considering a unilateral appeal, if the opposition does not join us, He said.
The government had rejected a unilateral ceasefire observed by the LTTE between December 24 and April 24 as a ploy, but last week Kadirgamar told a press conference that there had been a subsequent re-assessment and that the government was now ready for a mutual ceasefire. In his interview to 'Rupavahini' on Saturday night, he narrated the ups and downs in the prolonged peace process in which Norway has been involved as a facilitator for two years, admitting some mistakes by the government, but also blaming the LTTE for its tardy progress.
Bureau Report