SRI LANKA: The Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebels have told Norwegian mediators they are willing to return to peace talks without conditions, international peace mediators said yesterday.
"We rejoice at the announcement conveyed by both the government and LTTE to our Norwegian facilitator that they are willing to come to talks without any conditions," Japan's peace envoy Yasushi Akashi told a news briefing in Brussels.
The LTTE pulled out of peace talks indefinitely in April and a new bout of fighting erupted in late July, killing hundreds of troops, civilians and rebels in the worst violence since a 2002 ceasefire. Earlier, the leader of the rebels' political wing, SP Thamilselvan, said the organisation was "ready for talks" but said attacks by Sri Lanka's army should stop.
"The LTTE is ready for talks," he said. "However, the opportunities for resuming the talks will be much stronger when the Sri Lankan government ceases its military attacks and all the [ truce] articles are fully respected and implemented."
The Tigers are fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils, saying they are discriminated against by the majority Sinhalese, who dominate the government and the army. The government has ruled out anything beyond local autonomy. Speaking after talks in Brussels between the island's main donors, Mr Akashi said the first step would be for both sides to stop military action.
EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the main donors - the EU, Japan, the US and Norway - believed the talks should take place urgently in Oslo, hopefully at the beginning of October.
In a joint statement, the donor countries warned that failure to cease hostilities, pursue a political solution, respect human rights and guarantee the safety of aid workers could lead to a reduction in international aid.
The statement recalled the killing of 17 aid workers from a French non-governmental agency last month, which UN truce monitors say was likely the work of government troops.
US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher, who took part in the Brussels talks, told reporters the next step was to "go from a willingness [ to talk] to a reality".
Sri Lanka's military and the Tigers have each accused the other of trying to restart a two-decade civil war that has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983 and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
More than 200,000 people have sought refuge in tented camps across the Tamil-dominated north and east in the past six weeks. Both sides have mounted offensives in the latest bout of fighting.