Britain says talks essential to halt more killings

The British Government said it was distressed that Sri Lanka has become less concerned about reconciling the differences between the parties to the conflict after winning some military battles. Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells, who was in Colombo last year, was replying to a question raised in the Commons last Wednesday about the situation in Sri Lanka following the decision to end the cease fire agreement.

In response to a query by Simon Hughes, chairman of the Liberal Democrats Minister Howells said there must be talks between the protagonists otherwise the killings will continue. The minister was in full flight and had just mentioned the assassination of the minister of nation building last week when he was cut off in mid-sentence by the Speaker who stopped him speaking further possibly because of time constraints.

Citing the recent killings of parliamentarians, the LTTE's military intelligence chief and others, Hughes asked what the British Government was doing to bring the two sides together again to facilitate a secure settlement so that all people in Sri Lanka could live in peace.

Sharing Mr. Hughes’ concerns about what he called the ‘deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka’, the minister said that Britain had been trying for a long time to help the Norwegians broker a peace. He also said that former Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy had visited Colombo to try and give of his experience in trying to cobble a Belfast-type peace agreement.

“I think that the most distressing feature is how the Government having won some military battles has become less enthusiastic about reconciliation and involving everyone who lives on that troubled island, in a more inclusive way,” he said. He said the Britain will continue to work with the Government to emphasise that reconciliation must take place.

Mr. Hughes is also vice president of the Commons All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils which is headed by a former minister Keith Vaz, who was once suspended from Parliament after an inquiry, for breaching its rules of conduct. It was Mr. Vaz and Mr. Hughes who were largely instrumental in promoting last year's adjournment debate on Sri Lanka during which there was a call on the British Government to lift its ban on the LTTE imposed some seven years ago.