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Peace talks
move to committee stage For this purpose, the two sides yesterday decided to appoint a four-member committee which would comprise Minister G.L. Peiris and Anton Balasingham as co-leaders and Minister Rauf Hakeem from the government side and another member nominated by the LTTE. The committee is expected to draw up proposals on "how to devolve powers and find a political settlement," Prof. Peiris explained soon after the end of the third day of peace talks here. "We are making a start to discuss political matters showing signs that we are moving into take up serious matters," he said. The announcement of the appointment of the committee to discuss a political settlement came hours after the two sides finalized matters regarding two other committees which would deal with preparing for an aid-pledging meeting due to be held in Oslo on November 25 and High Security Zones. The government and the LTTE yesterday decided to appoint an 18 member committee to handle matters related to issues connected with the High Security Zones around defence establishments in the northern and eastern provinces. The Committee consisting of nine members each from both sides is due to meet in Omanthai on November 10. Agreement was reached between the two sides regarding the appointment of the Committee at yesterday's peace talks in Thailand. The government side will be led by Defence Secretary Austin Fernando while the LTTE is yet to name its leader in the Committee which is to have military representatives from both sides. The main task of the Committee would be to resolve issues connected with High Security Zones from where the LTTE wants the security forces to withdraw enabling the return of civilians to these areas. The government chief negotiator G. L. Peiris confirmed the appointment of the Committee, saying this would be the first time military persons from both sides would be meeting face to face to work together. Meanwhile, the establishment of the proposed Joint Task Force (JTF) to handle rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in the north-eastern province has run into legal and political snags prompting the government to change it to a committee working under the peace delegations. Minister Peiris said yesterday the proposed JTF was being replaced by a committee, but added the name was not important. He said the committee would allocate funds under government regulations. It would also have a secretariat, though the localtion has yet to be decided on. The Sunday Times learns that the committee would consist of eight members - four from the government, including two Muslim representatives, and four from the LTTE. One of the issues which had been taken into consideration was that a separate task force would undermine the main peace delegation. Questions also arose about the legal validity of the task force. Minister Rauff Hakeem representing the Muslims at the talks had objected to the composition of the JTF and suggested that it should include two Muslim members. One of the main reasons for the SLMC objection was that the LTTE would have extra influence over the JTF which would cover the north and eastern provinces. The SLMC had insisted that a separate JTF would have to be set up in the east in the event the government went ahead with the original proposal. It had also raised the issue that the functions of the Eastern Development Ministry currently held by Mr. Hakeem and the functions of the Wanni Development Ministry would be undermined in the event of establishing a JTF. The government is currently planning to appoint four members each to the committee which would also be entrusted in preparing a comprehensive plan to attract international aid for rehabilitation and reconstruction work. The report is to be submitted to the aid-pledging meeting to be held in Oslo on November 25. The SLMC plans to appoint two of its proposed members through a separate committee whom it would be forming among a total of 17 MPs who represents the eastern province. However, with the internal crisis of the SLMC it was not immediately clear as to how the party would be able to bring about all 17 MPs together. Twelve MPs are from the SLMC, three from NUA and two from the UNF. The same committee is expected to work together with the LTTE on resolving problems in the eastern province. On Friday the Government and the LTTE agreed to reconstitute the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission local committees in the eastern province. Accordingly ,the existing members of these committees will be replaced with senior members. The four days of peace talks end today with both sides due to issue a joint statement and address a news conference. The morning session will focus on preparing the joint statement. Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen will be associated at the news conference. Meanwhile Norwegian Ambassador Jon Westborg confirmed that the next round of peace talks would be held in Norway due to Thailand hosting several ceremonies connected with the King's birthday. |
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