The Tamil Tiger rebels have agreed to resume talks with the government to review the country's fragile ceasefire, the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo and a rebel spokesman said yesterday.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam have "agreed to discuss the CFA [ceasefire agreement] with the Sri Lankan government," Tom Knappskog of the Norwegian Embassy said.
"The willingness to have the talks is there, but no date or venue have been decided," Knappskog added.
In response to Knappskog's comments, Tamil rebel spokesman, Daya Master, confirmed that an agreement in principle had been reached to hold talks but that no date or venue had been set.
The earlier peace parlays broke down about one year after Norwegian peace negotiators brokered a ceasefire in 2002 to halt the country's brutal civil war. Six rounds of inconclusive talks were held.
The rebels earlier yesterday denied reports that they had agreed to meet with the Sri Lankan government to review the ceasefire.
Master, the rebel spokesman, said the rebel leadership was writing a letter to the Norwegians to detail their position.
The rebels are led by the reclusive Velupillai Prabhakaran, the longtime head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam.
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga wants to hold direct talks with rebels in an effort to end a spate of political assassinations that have plagued the country, her office said.
She made the request hours after Parliament on Thursday approved an extension of an emergency rule decree imposed after last week's assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar by a suspected rebel sniper.
Earlier news reports, quoting Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen, said the guerrillas had agreed to hold direct talks with the government.
Before Kadirgamar's killing, the rebels had refused to consider talks until the government disarmed paramilitaries who the Tigers said were operating in government-held areas and largely responsible for attacking rebel fighters.
The government denies that it has been sponsoring paramilitaries.
The emergency laws give broad power to the military -- which President Kumaratunga controls -- to make arrests, interrogate suspects and search houses at will.
The laws also put a ban on public gatherings, gives the president lawmaking powers and allows media censorship.
Soon after the legislature had approved the motion, the president's office said that she wanted a review of the 2002 Norwegian-brokered ceasefire.
The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate nation for the minority Tamils in the north and east of the island nation off the southern tip of India.
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to
RSS