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Defiant Sri Lankan PM stresses peace process

A defiant Sri Lankan prime minister unleashed a wave of public support when he returned home yesterday, saying a peace bid with Tamil rebels at the heart of a power struggle with the island's president must stay on track.

Fresh from receiving a seal of approval for his peace bid in the US, Ranil Wickremesinghe was mobbed by rapturous crowds, garlanded with flowers and bowed to a group of Buddhist monks after he stepped off a plane in Colombo.

Tens of thousands of well-wishers lined the highway from the airport chanting his name, dancing and waving banners as his convoy travelled at a walking pace into the capital.

It took more than six hours to make the 21km trip.

"Parliament must re-assemble. It is the only body with a mandate for negotiations," Wickremesinghe said, three days after President Chandrika Kumaratunga suspended parliament and sparked a crisis that threatens a 20-month ceasefire with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

But in a bizarre twist, the president's office said there was no state of emergency, although officials had said on Wednesday it had been declared.

"A state of emergency becomes law only after the president signs a proclamation to that effect. The president did not sign such a proclamation ..." said a statement from the Presidential Secretariat.

There had been no denials over the last two days about the emergency, which set off alarm bells on the island and criticism around the world.

But Kumaratunga, who also sacked three Cabinet ministers, signed a separate order that gave the military more powers to maintain public order.

She has accused the government of giving away too much to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, one of the world's most ferocious guerrilla groups, and said she was acting in the country's interests.

The president, who suspended parliament until Nov. 19, was due to outline her plans in a televised address yesterday.

"We have to ensure parliament resumes so the peace process can continue," said Wickremesinghe, who wore a white collarless shirt and seemed relaxed as he smiled and waved to the crowds.

Political observers said the standoff over the peace process could end in a general election, the third in four years.

There was also talk of a possible political compromise, and the island's stock market, jumped more than 12 percent yesterday on those hopes.
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