புலிகளுடன் சந்திரிகாவே பேச்சு நடத்தட்டும்: ரணில்

[yarl]

நவம்பர் 10, 2003
thatstamil.com

விடுதலை புலிகளுடன் சந்திரிகாவே பேச்சு நடத்தட்டும்: ரணில்

கொழும்பு:

விடுதலைப் புலிகளுடனான பேச்சுவார்த்தையை அதிபர் சந்திரிகாவே நடத்தட்டும் என்று இலங்கைப் பிரதமர் ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்கே கூறியுள்ளார்.


இலங்கையில் உள்ள அமெரிக்கத் தூதர் கெபரி லூன்ஸ்டட் , நார்வே நாட்டுத் தூதர் ஹன்ஸ் பராட்கர் ஆகியோரைச் சந்தித்து, தற்போதுள்ள அரசியல் நிலவரம் குறித்துப் பேசியுள்ளார் ரணில்.

அப்போது அவர்களிடம், விடுதலைப் புலிகளுடனான அமைதிப் பேச்சுவார்த்தையில் ராணுவத் துறை முக்கிய பங்கு வகிக்கிறது. அது இல்லாமல் பேச்சுவார்த்தை நடத்த சாத்தியமில்லை என்று கூறியிருக்கிறார்.

ராணுவத் துறை தற்போது சந்திரிகாவின் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் உள்ளதால் , அவரே பேச்சுவார்த்தையை நடத்தட்டும் என்றும் அவர் தெரிவித்திருக்கிறார். இது பற்றி பிரதமர் வாஜ்பாயிடமும் ரணில் பேசியிருக்கிறார். இந்நிலையில் நார்வே தூதுக் குழு இன்று இலங்கை வருகிறது.

இலங்கையில் தேசிய அரசு அமைக்கலாம் என்ற சந்திரிகாவின் யோசனையை ரணில் தலைமையிலான ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி நிராகரித்து விட்டது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

[AJeevan]

ராணுவத் துறை தற்போது சந்திரிகாவின் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் உள்ளதால் , அவரே பேச்சுவார்த்தையை நடத்தட்டும் என்றும் ரணில் தெரிவித்திருக்கிறார். இது பற்றி பிரதமர் வாஜ்பாயிடமும் ரணில் பேசியிருக்கிறார். இந்நிலையில் நார்வே தூதுக் குழு இன்று இலங்கை வருகிறது.

<img src='http://www.vikatan.com/av/2003/nov/16112003/p111.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
''எதிரிநாட்டு ஒற்றர்படையைச் சேர்ந்தவன்
நமது எல்லைக்குள் ஊடுருவி உள்ளான். அவனை என்ன செய்ய..?''

''நம்ம வில் வீரர்கள் படையை அனுப்பி என்கௌண்ட்டர்ல போட்டுத் தள்ளிடு!''

Thanks: Vikadan

[AJeevan]

<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>Lankan MPs offered $4 million to defect: Minister </span>
COLOMBO, NOV 11 (AFP)
Sri Lanka's ruling party MPs have been offered up to four million dollars in cash and foreign scholarships to defect to the president's party, a government minister said today.

Seven MPs from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) had been approached by President Chandrika Kumaratunga's loyalists with the cash offer to cross the floor of parliament, Agriculture Minister S. B. Dissanayake told reporters.

There was no immediate reaction from the president's office to the government allegation, but horse trading is not uncommon in Sri Lanka's divisive politics.

However, an anti-defection law makes sure that any MP who switches sides can be expelled by their party and lose their seat.

Some legislators were offered amounts ranging from 530,000 to 630,000 dollars together with promises of foreign educational scholarships for their children, Dissanayake said.

He said Wickremesinghe has instructed the legislators to complain that they were offered bribes and press for criminal prosecution against those responsible.

Wickremesinghe's party has the support of 130 legislators in the 225-member assembly where Kumaratunga's party is the main opposition. She was elected as president at a separate vote in December 1999.

Sri Lanka was plunged in a political crisis after the president sacked three ministers and suspended parliament for two weeks after briefly imposing a state of emergency.


<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>LANKA-PM
Ranil says peace process in jeopardy </span>COLOMBO, NOV 11 (AFP)
The government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said today Sri Lanka's peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels had been put in jeopardy by political turmoil triggered by the president.

"Events of the last few days have inflicted very considerable damage on the peace process. It has been damaged and it has been put in jeopardy," government spokesman G. L. Peiris said, quoting the prime minister.

He said Wickremesinghe had agreed to meet President Chandrika Kumaratunga on tomorrow to discuss the peace process.

PTI EMAIL

[AJeevan]

[b]<span style='font-size:30pt;line-height:100%'>LANKA-LD FAILURE </span>
Chandrika-Ranil talks end in deadlock
COLOMBO, NOV 12 (PTI)
Talks between Sri Lanka's warring President and Prime Minister ended in a deadlock with no sign of ending the island's unprecedented political crisis, official sources said today.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met behind closed-doors for about two hours but neither side showed signs of compromise, the sources said.

The meeting started slightly behind schedule as Kumaratunga turned up late at her own President's House official residence, officials said. A source close to the prime minister said he did not press for the re-instatement of the three ministers sacked summarily by Kumaratunga, but wanted her to take over the running of the Norwegian-backed peace process.

Wickremesinghe argued that he cannot handle the peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels unless he was in full control over the government, including the defence, interior and information portfolios taken by Kumaratunga.

Kumaratunga, on the other hand made no commitments, but expressed her serious concerns about the security situation in the country in the light of her allegations that the government jeopardised national security.

Both, however, agreed to issue a joint statement later saying they met and planned to have another round of talks next week inviting leaders of minority parties supporting Wickremesinghe's government. However, today's meeting had raised expectations of a compromise to the conflict which had sent markets tumbling and dented investor confidence.

Political sources said the president's party in the meantime was trying to cut a political deal with the Marxist JVP, or People's Liberation Front to contest a possible snap poll.

Kumaratunga could use her executive power to sack parliament anytime now to call an election four years ahead of schedule.

Analysts believe that elelctions may not be a good solution, but in the absence of any other option, it was the only way out of the present crisis for Sri Lanka.

[தணிக்கை]

இவர்கள் எல்லோரும் தமிழ் மக்களின் நலனில் அக்கறை கொண்டு செயற்படவில்லை தமது கதிரைகளுக்கு அடிபடுகின்றார்கள்.

[AJeevan]

<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>LANKA-LTTE LD CEASEFIRE
Tigers demand guarantees for truce, political stability </span>
COLOMBO,
NOV 13 (PTI)
Allaying fears that power struggle between Sri Lankan leaders would plunge the island into crisis, Tamil Tigers today said they were committed to the Norwegian-backed ceasefire even as they sought a guarantee from Oslo that the Colombo Government would continue to honour its commitment to the truce. "LTTE will remain committed to the peace process and to the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA)," LTTE political wing leader S P Thamilselvan told reporters after two Norwegian peace envoys met with rebel leader V Prabhakaran in rebel-held town of Kilinochchi.

"The leader of the LTTE sought the guarantee from the Norwegians that the Sri Lankan government would continue with its commitment to the ceasefire agreement," Thamilselvan said.

"He told the Norwegians that there should be political stability in Colombo for the peace talks to continue," Thamilselvan said. "Unfortunately the president and the prime minister speak different opinions these days. Unless and until a stable political climate is established in Colombo, we cannot resume the peace talks," he said.

The remarks came after Prabhakaran met with Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen and Special Advisor Erik Solheim.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga took over the defence and interior portfolios together with the information ministry last week while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was away to the US on an official visit.

PTI
LANKA-LTTE
<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>Norwegian peace envoys begin talks with LTTE chief
KILINOCHCHI, SRI LANKA,</span>
NOV 13 (AP)
Norwegian peace envoys met Sri Lanka's reclusive rebel leader today to discuss a power struggle between the nation's president and prime minister that has threatened to derail the peace process.

Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen and special envoy Erik Solheim met with Vellupillai Prabhakaran behind closed-doors in this northern rebel capital, as Tiger guerrillas kept guard.

Prabhakaran founded and leads the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the separatist group embroiled in a 19-year civil war to establish a homeland in the northeast for the country's 3.2 million Tamils.

The Norwegians, who have played a crucial role in efforts to end Sri Lanka's civil war, met with President Chandrika Kumaratunga in Colombo yesterday.

Kumaratunga last week wrested control of the ministries of defence, interior and media from her rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, claiming he has made too many concessions to the Tamil rebels.

In Colombo, chief government spokesman G L Peiris said the prime minister, who initiated the peace process after winning elections in December 2001, believes his administration can not carry forward the peace process with "truncated responsibility," a reference to Kumaratunga retaining the crucial defence portfolio.

"This is not just possible, and the Norwegians also agree with us," he said.

There was no immediate comment from Kumaratunga's office.

[AJeevan]

PTI <b>LANKA LD NORWAY
Norway suspends peace role in Sri Lanka </b>COLOMBO, NOV 14 (PTI)
In a setback to the Sri Lankan peace process, Norway today said it would suspend its peace brokering role in the country until the power struggle between the leaders of the island nation was resolved.

Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen said they needed "clarity" regarding who was actually responsible for the peace process from the Colombo government's side before they could resume their efforts.

"Until such clarity is re-established, there is no space for further efforts by the Norwegian government to assist the parties," Helgesen told reporters here at the end of a three-day visit.

He said the talks between the government and the Tiger rebels could have started even tomorrow, but the political crisis triggered by President Chandrika Kumaratunga sacking of three ministers and suspending Parliament on November 4 cast a shadow over the entire effort.

The visit by Helgesen and Special Advisor Erik Solheim was originally aimed at reviving talks between the Colombo government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but Helgesen said they failed because of the political uncertainty here.

"This is one single impediment that Norway can do nothing about," he said. "So we will go home and wait.

"Peace talks could have started tomorrow provided there was clarity about who is holding political authority and responsibility on behalf of the government to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire agreement and the resumption of peace negotiations," Helgesen said. He also said that Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who revived a peace bid with Tamil rebels in 2001, is effectively "out of the peace process" due to his power struggle with the president.

"He would not be able to take decisions and make compromises at the table, so effectively he has said he is out of the peace process." "The prime minister can't take responsibility for the peace process and is unable to give security guarantees," Helgesen said. Wickremesinghe had in turn asked President Kumaratunga to take over the running of the process, a possibility Helgesen put to Tiger Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran yesterday.

Helgesen said both the Tamil Tigers and President Kumaratunga promised to uphold the ceasefire which Norway brokered and put into effect from February 23 last year, but warned that it was at risk.

"There is not a stable peace in Sri Lanka today...I think, however, that the parties have committed to maintain the ceasefire." "We need to make clear that the ceasefire will be much more difficult to sustain in a political vacuum," he said. "If progress in the political negotiations is made impossible, the ceasefire will become increasingly fragile.
<b>
LANKA-PM
Ranil out of peace process: Norwegian envoy </b>COLOMBO, NOV 14 (AFP)
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who revived a peace bid with Tamil rebels in 2001, is effectively "out of the peace process" due to his power struggle with the president, a Norwegian envoy said today.

"He would not be able to take decisions and make compromises at the table, so effectively he has said he is out of the peace process," Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen told reporters.

"The prime minister can't take responsibility for the peace process and is unable to give security guarantees," Helgesen said.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who accuses both Norway and Wickremesinghe of conceding too much to the Tamil Tigers, on November 4 took over three ministries including defence, giving her full control of security forces.

Helgesen said today the peace process was on hold, after his five-day mission in which he met separately with Kumaratunga, Wickremesinghe and Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran.

"The government has no option but to seek a fresh mandate to counter extremist forces and obstructionist politics of the opposition," the Cabinet resolution said.

"When we are moving on the rapid path of development, some forces, including extremists, are obstructing the development. Some political parties are also creating confusion and putting obstacles on the road to development," the resolution said.

The TDP government sought dissolution of the assembly ten months before it was to complete its term.

This is the second time a state government is seeking a fresh mandate ahead of its term.

In 1985, the then Chief Minister and TDP founder leader, late N T Rama Rao, opted for snap polls to consolidate the public sympathy generated by his ouster in August '84 following a political coup by his deputy N Bhaskar Rao.