Though he tried to project a new image of a guerrilla leader coming into democratic political mainstream, in effect, it was on the contrary. What he uttered at the Kilinochchi news conference brought out the fascist in him, according to analysts.
The change of heart of the LTTE has been attributed to the September 11 events and the subsequent anti-terror campaign launched by the United States and its allies. With Western governments adopting a tough stand against terrorism and announcing their lists of terrorist organisations, the LTTE became jittery, for none of these lists had excluded the LTTE.

Though the LTTE's willingness to hold peace talks has been described as a change of heart, Mr. Prabhakaran made it clear at the news conference that he had not given up the Eelam struggle, though he said any move that would offer self-governance within Sri Lanka would receive the LTTE's serious consideration. Is there anything new in what he said on April 10? In effect, the LTTE's stance is not different from what Eelamists proposed during talks at the Bhutanese capital of Thimpu. Tamil hardliners, in line with the Thimpu principles, have been demanding a Tamil homeland encompassing the Northern and Eastern provinces. The rest of the country dismissed this demand as unfair because it would place two thirds of the entire coastal belt and one third of the land mass of Sri Lanka in the hands of a mere 12 percent of the population.

Sri Lanka's Muslims who make up eight percent of the population also opposed the homeland concept put forward by the Eelamists at the Thimpu talks. They feared such a concept would eventually drive them out of their homes in the north and east.
It should be mentioned here that at the beginning of the Eelam struggle, the separatist lobby tried to rope in Muslims also into their campaign and began to identify the Northern and Eastern provinces as the homeland for Tamil-speaking people - meaning both the Tamils and Muslims. They adopted this strategy in the belief that it would add more strength to their campaign for a separate state or self-governance.

But when the separatist struggle transformed into a full-scale armed conflict, the Muslims of the north and east were frowned upon with suspicion because they remained neutral or opposed separatism. This eventually led to an ethnic cleansing with the LTTE issuing a 24-hour ultimatum to Muslims of Jaffna to leave their homes. With Muslims out of the Tamil separatists struggle, the LTTE only talked about the emancipation of the Tamils. The LTTE also accused the Muslims, especially those living in the east, of grabbing or misappropriating land from Tamils through deceitful means.

As a result of LTTE ethnic cleansing, some 17,000 Muslim families have been displaced and most of them are living under squalid conditions in refugee camps in Puttalam. The LTTE has apologized to the Muslims for what happened in the past and invited the displaced Muslims of Jaffna to return to their homes, but most of the Muslims are still wary about the offer. The LTTE and Tamil politicians sympathetic to it have once again begun to talk for the entire Tamil-speaking people, meaning both Tamils and Muslims.

At the 1985 Thimpu talks, where the Sri Lankan delegation was headed by H. W. Jayewardene, the Tamil delegation led N. Satyendran, son of late S. Nadesan QC, put forward the following demands:

* There should be devolution of power with provinces being the primary unit of devolution.
* All inequalities of 'Sinhala only' policy should be legally, constitutionally, and politically remedied.
* The Northern and Eastern provinces encompassing Batticaloa, Ampara, Trincomalee and Jaffna should be linked or constituted as one province and it should be acknowledged in the Sri Lankan Constitution as a Tamil homeland.
* There should be genuine devolution of administration and financial powers.
* The Sri Lankan government should return lands in North-Central parts of the country which they had forcibly acquired expelling the resident Tamil population.
* Tamil should be recognised as a national and official language with the equal status with language of the majority.
* There should be a proportional representation for the Tamils in the armed forces, police force and the civil service.
* Sri Lankan security forces should be confined to barracks.
* The sixth amendment to the constitution should be repealed to enable the Tamil representatives to return to parliament.
The talks collapsed because both parties adopted a tough stance with regard to technicalities of the issues at stake.
The Tamil delegation walked out of the talks protesting against the attitude of the Sri Lankan delegation and that of the Indian representative, Foreign Secretary Romesh Bandari.

Though separatism was not explicitly mentioned at the Thimpu talks, it has now become the core issue of the LTTE struggle. A separate state is the only solution in the absence of an arrangement for self-determination where the Tamils living in the so-called homeland could decide on their own political destiny within Sri Lanka. This appears to be the view of some moderate Tamils who are also sympathetic to the LTTE cause.

In any event, what transpired at the April 10 news conference was that the LTTE had not given up the idea of cessation. The LTTE now holds the view that unless the government recognizes the Tamil people's right to self-determination, it will not agree to any deal short of Eelam. It is this stand of the LTTE that has given rise to fears among the Sinhala majority that the LTTE will make use of the interim arrangement as a stepping stone to a separate state.

As opposed to the LTTE, the UNF government appears to be flexible and ready to travel that extra mile for peace. Though the Kilinochchi news conference disappointed the peace-loving people, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe saw some positive aspects in it. The Premier said that the LTTE's willingness to consider an interim arrangement with self-determination could be regarded as a positive development and that the government would like to begin from that. But it now appears that the premier also is entertaining some fears about talks running into a storm. Yet he made it clear that he would not give up his pursuit of peace.

In the meantime, both the government and the LTTE have begun to view the Indian factor with concern. LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham's position is that India, which he hailed as a regional superpower, should play an active role in the peace process and said that without India there could not be permanent peace in Sri Lanka.
But many see an ulterior motive behind this statement. The LTTE wants India to recognise the LTTE and forget the past. The LTTE described the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi as a 'tragic incident' in an attempt to woo India. But is India ready to forgive the LTTE and absolve Prabhakaran of the heinous crime?

A majority of Sri Lankans may forgive the LTTE and forget its atrocities in the name of peace, but Indians, especially the Congress Party, are not yet ready to forget the past that easily. India lost nearly a thousand soldiers in its war with the LTTE during its peace-keeping operations in Sri Lanka. Political analysts believe that in the event the Congress Party returns to power in India - a highly predicted possibility - India will intensify its efforts to bring Mr. Prabhakaran to justice. It may even send its army to capture him or pressurize the Colombo government to extradite him. Mr. Balasingham requested India to get involved actively in the peace process probably to avoid such a situation.

The position of India in the wake of Mr. Prabhakaran's news conference gives rise to fears that it may scuttle the peace process, though both the BJP government led by Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee and the Congress Party led by Sonia Gandhi, widow of Rajiv Gandhi, have spoken out in support of the peace process. Peace-starved people of Sri Lanka expect India to act cautiously at this juncture when the Sri Lankan government has taken a bold step to restore peace in the island.

Minister and SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem, meanwhile, met Mr. Prabhakaran for crucial talks. Mr. Hakeem returned from the meeting with a sense of satisfaction. It is said the meeting was cordial and Mr. Prabhakaran went up to the extent of treating Mr. Hakeem and his delegation according to Islamic customs. Hours before his departure to Wanni, Mr. Hakeem met party seniors and religious leaders to brief them on the purpose of his visit. He said that priority would be given to immediate problems facing the Muslims.

Accordingly, he discussed the Muslim refugee problem and the LTTE leader said they were welcome to Jaffna. But some Muslim leaders believe that they should wait till a permanent solution is found. A discussion to this effect was held on Wednesday at senior lawyer Faiz Musthapa's residence where Mr. Hakeem briefed a committee of Muslim leaders on the outcome of his meeting with LTTE leaders. Some expressed the view that if the Muslims returned to Jaffna, there was a possibility that they would be compelled to toe the LTTE line and this may not augur well for the SLMC politically. Mr. Hakeem, however, appears to be happy with the outcome of his meeting with Mr. Prabhakaran. As a goodwill gesture towards the LTTE, Mr. Hakeem first relegated a Muslim re-awakening programme - in line with the Pongu Thamil shows - to a seminar and an awareness programme and later cancelled it.

The UNF government also should consider seriously sentiments expressed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga and LSSP leader Batty Weerakoon before moving towards lifting the ban. President Kumaratunga has said that the LTTE should come to an agreement with the government to honour human rights before the ban on it is lifted. Mr. Weerakoon, too, expressed similar sentiments when he said that the interim administration should be in place only when the LTTE was disarmed. The views of these two leaders should be given serious consideration as the LTTE is seeking the lifting of the ban solely to campaign in foreign countries against the ban.
The LTTE appears to have been hit severely by the international ban. On Friday, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage assured Ministers G. L. Peiris and Ravi Karunanayake in Washington that the US policy would be unaffected should the Government of Sri Lanka decide to remove its ban on the LTTE.

Mr. Armitage expressed support for Sri Lanka's territorial integrity, and urged the government and the LTTE to "continue to engage in a productive dialogue leading to a peaceful settlement of the conflict," the State Department said. It is believed that most Western countries, too, will follow a similar stance with regard to the LTTE ban and the peace process. Thus in the ban on the LTTE, there lies a bargaining chip for the government.

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