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Premier ponders de-proscription
Prime Minister Ranil Wickreme-singhe conferred with Attorney General K.C.Kamalasabeyson on Friday over the possibility of de-proscribing the LTTE only hours after the rebel group leader Velupillai Prabhakaran imposed a condition that the ban on the group be lifted before direct talks with the Government of Sri Lanka scheduled to be held in Thailand.

In April 2001, the LTTE suddenly placed a pre-condition for talks with the former People's Alliance Government, but later said it was not a pre-condition and only asked for the "necessary environment" for peace talks to be conducted. The issue was not part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Mr. Prabhakaran and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, but the LTTE hierarchy again imposed it as a condition for talks already agreed on in Thailand.

LTTE leaders told a news conference in Kilinochchi on Wednesday that they would impose this as a pre-condition for talks, and would then lobby world governments to lift the ban on them in those countries. Meanwhile Prime Minister Wickremesinghe told The Sunday Times last night that the government was awaiting the outcome of talks between Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem and LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham before it went for direct negotiations with the LTTE.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said the outcome of these talks was "important" for the working out of the agenda for the upcoming talks which are now likely to be scheduled for June. Mr. Hakeem, however, told The Sunday Times that he would not be taking up "too many contentious issues" with the LTTE leadership when they meet in Kilinochchi over the weekend "because this is the first official face-to-face meeting."
Both the LTTE and the Muslim Congress have demanded that they be considered the "sole representatives" of the Tamils and Muslims respectively in the country.

The SLMC leader said he would not be talking about his party's role in the proposed interim administration, but would instead be discussing only day-to-day problems faced by the Muslims, especially those living in the Eastern province. Mr. Hakeem was to meet the LTTE leaders on Saturday. "Thereafter there is a possibility that I will meet the Supremo," he said.

He spoke to The Sunday Times after holding a meeting with the Federation of Mosques and Trustees of the Kaththankudy and Oddamavadai areas. Meanwhile, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs who had been 'summoned' for discussions with the LTTE hierarchy to be given guidelines on how to conduct themselves met with the LTTE hierarchy on Friday.

All 14 TNA MPs are reported to have attended the meeting, and asked for regular monthly meetings to discuss the progress of the peace process. The plantation-based CWC leadership is also due to meet the LTTE leadership today to give their blessings for the peace process.

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