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Seasoned negotiators in LTTE team
By Harinda Vidanage
With the LTTE announcing its delegation for the September 16 peace talks in Thailand, two new faces have emerged in the peace picture. The four-member LTTE team for the face-to-face talks with a government delegation at the Thai military base in Sattahip comprises two known faces - LTTE Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham and his Australian wife Adele - and two new faces - Vishwanathan Rudrakumar and Dr. Jay Maheswaran.

Till they were included in the LTTE delegation, very little was known about them. Both Mr. Rudrakumar and Dr. Maheswaran are experts in their respective professions. Mr. Rudrakumar is a US-based legal expert while Dr. Maheswaran is a development expert based in Australia.

Mr. Rudrakumar, a son of former Jaffna mayor Raja Vishwanathan of the TULF, is a law scholar who has been advising the LTTE on many a legal matter. He led a group of LTTE lawyers who initiated legal action in the United States against a State Department decision to ban the group in that country and declare it a terrorist organisation.

He had his early education at Jaffna Central College where he had been a classmate of EPDP leader Douglas Devananda. A regular speaker at many international conferences on the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, Mr. Rudrakumar is now living in London.

He is also recognised as a political scientist and constitutional expert. Dr. Maheswaran has been an NGO activist in Australia and at present is in Colombo. The Sunday Times learns that he is also involved in setting up an NGO in Colombo as well.

Both Mr. Rudrakumar and Mr. Maheshwaran are known to be seasoned negotiators. Their presence has added strength and weight to the LTTE delegation which also includes Dr. Balasingham who is recuperating after a kidney transplant operation. His wife Adele, a member of the LTTE's international arm, is a nurse by profession. Her role at the peace talks in Thailand will be that of a secretary.

The LTTE has agreed on venue because Dr. Balasingham could obtain medical treatment, if necessary, in state-of-the art hospitals in the vicinity. Sattahip is a fishing village with a deep water port and is located near the U Tapo Air Base. Thailand also offers nostalgic memories to the Balasinghams who have reached the Thai resort of Phuket in LTTE boats from Mullaitivu.

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