'This is a significant achievement', the Prime Minister said.

The text of the speech is as follows:
'Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees,

On my return from Oslo at the conclusion of a most successful conference of nations in support of the peace process, I wish to keep the House informed of what was achieved for our country.

As you will recall it has been my practice to do so regularly, at crucial moments of the peace negotiations and I am happy to do so again in the spirit of keeping Parliament informed, especially after the landmark event.

This is the first ever conference of nations to pledge political support to Sri Lanka and was summoned by the Royal Norwegian Government with the concurrence of Sri Lanka. It was attended by friendly countries and the European Union. The annual meetings of the donor nations and multi-lateral institutions are solely for the purpose of pledging development assistance to Sri Lanka. These meetings are summoned by the World Bank a multi-lateral financial institution and are attended at official level.

When I addressed the House at the beginning of this year, I stressed on the need to mobilize the international community. The drastic changes in the local environment after September 11th were favourable to Sri Lanka's objective of finding a negotiated political settlement of the North-East conflict. We did not allow that opportunity to slip. The Oslo conference was a fulfilment of that objective.

The Peace Support meeting pledged its whole hearted support to the peace process which has as its objective a political solution acceptable to all communities within a unified Sri Lanka. For the first time the LTTE affirmed to the international community its commitment to find a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict. This is a significant achievement.

The Support meeting also pledged financial support for reconstruction. The usual practice is to provide financial aid after a peace agreement is reached but realizing that peace is people driven in Sri Lanka, the international community has decided to provide financial assistance to us as the talks progress. Some of the donor nations made immediate pledges for urgent humanitarian needs and for quick impact projects. Financial assistance for Sri Lanka will be finalized at a meeting of Donor nations and multi-lateral financial institutions to be summoned in Tokyo by the Japanese Government.

]The Donor nations also expressed concern at the slow rate of disbursement of funds for development assistance by the government of Sri Lanka in the last few years. The government is taking action to expedite the process.

Following the outcome of the Oslo meeting I have also instructed the government delegation to the next session of talks to take up for discussion some of the key issues relating to the consolidation of the MoU. These will include the enforcement of law and order by government agencies. Consolidation of the MoU is essential to move to the next stage.

Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees, Hon'ble members.

As you would have realized from the extensive coverage of the Oslo meeting, the overriding gain for the government was the confidence of the international community at the manner in which the process was proceeding. The Peace Support meeting in Oslo which was attended by the representatives, at a high political level, of more than 40 countries, secured the fulfilment of our aspirations which were articulated in Thailand. The Donor countries represented there were unanimous in their enthusiasm. The goodwill that was expressed has been converted into pecuniary resources for the country as a whole.

The discussions between the two sides thus far, including at Oslo, have enabled us to identify issues on which we were in agreement and take note of the potential sources of tension, while putting in place mechanisms to address the problems before they assume significant proportions. We have now reached the stage when the political issues could be addressed and expect to make progress in the near future with regard to the framework in dealing with these issues in a coherent sequence. This is the trajectory which began in Sattahip and involves the identification of issues in respect of which the two sides could work together.

I have always believed that in a process of negotiations as complex and delicate as this, sequence is as important as substance and a robust sense of pragmatism must underpin the process as a whole.

My government is happy with the progress achieved so far and the developments which will occur within the next few months. The discussions in Sattahip and Nakhom Pathom laid a strong foundation for the process.

Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees,

During my discussions Dr. Anton Balasingham informed me that the concept of internal self determination within a unified Sri Lanka would be in Mr. Prabhakaran's speech. Mr. Prabhakaran's speech on heroes day expressed this objective quite specifically. This encourages me to believe that the political dialogue can be fruitful because the position of the two parties is no longer incompatible.

The thrust of the paradigm shift reflected in the statement of Mr. Prabhakaran and Dr. Balasingham is that the LTTE no longer relentlessly pursues the idea of a separate state but is content to consider substantial power sharing within a framework of an unified Sri Lanka.

My government recognizing as it does, the pluralistic character of our country is resolutely committed to devolution of authority as the vehicle for fulfilling the aspirations of all the people who inhabit this land.

As the initial phase of a difficult process draws to a close and as we embark upon the substantive phases of the negotiation process, I am conscious of the new challenges, formidable in their character, that lie ahead.

The visit I will undertake to Japan from 3rd to 7th December will bring in its wake substantive benefits to our country. the government of Japan has already extended an invitation to the parties to select Tokyo as a venue for their monthly discussions in March next year. My government has accepted this invitation with pleasure.

The culmination of these developments will be the convening of a major conference of Donors in Tokyo towards late spring next year, to which the donor countries and my government look forward with eager anticipation. I must also thank the Royal Norwegian government who convened and hosted the Oslo meeting.

In my opinion what we have all achieved at Oslo is to transfer the solution of the ethnic conflict and the related issues from the battle field to the negotiating table We must ensure that we move the process forward. Therefore Oslo is a significant step. That 'One step' is enough for me.'

Willing to settle for substantial autonomy: Prabha
LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has declared that he would favourably consider a political framework that offers substantial regional autonomy and self-government to the Tamil people on the basis of their right to internal self-determination.

Enunciating the organisation's policy in his annual Heroes' Day address on Wednesday, the Tamil Tiger leader explained that the Tamil people want to live in freedom and dignity in their own historical homeland pursuing the development of their language , culture and economy and managing their own affairs under a system of self-rule, a press release issue by the LTTE said.

The LTTE leader appealed to the Sinhala people to support the aspirations of the Tamil for autonomy and self-government in their own lands. "If our demand for regional self-rule based on the right to internal self-determination is rejected, we have no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state," the Tamil leader declared, the release said.

Expressing satisfaction over the progress of the peace negotiations between the government and his organisation, Mr. Prabhakaran said that the keen interest shown by the international community over the current peace efforts and their offer of humanitarian assistance to the war affected population was encouraging, the release added.

"It is our deepest desire that the current peace talks facilitated by Norway should succeed and all the communities living in the island should co-exist in harmony.", the LTTE leader had said.

The following are extracts from the LTTE leader's statement :

"Our liberation struggle has reached a new historical turning point and entered into a new development stage. We are facing a new challenge. We have ceased armed hostilities and are now engaged in a peaceful negotiating process to resolve the ethnic conflict. Our sincere and dedicated commitment to the peace process has falsified and demolished the propaganda campaign carried out by Sinhala chauvinists that we are enemies of peace.

Even on the issue of ceasefire, we took the initiative. We declared a unilateral ceasefire and called upon the government to reciprocate. The new government, which assumed power with a mandate for peace, reciprocated positively to our declaration of ceasefire. The mutually agreed cessation of hostilities came into effect on 23 February under the supervision of an international monitoring team. This ceasefire has been in force for the past nine months. There have been several provocative attempts by certain elements of the armed forces and anti-peace racist forces to disrupt the peace process. There were incidents in which several innocent Tamils were killed. Nevertheless, we maintained a rigid discipline and observed peace. This is a clear demonstration of our genuine commitment to the path of peace.

If a reasonable settlement to the Tamil national question could be realised by peaceful means we will make every endeavour, with honesty and sincerity to pursue that path. Our political objective is to ensure that our people should live in freedom and dignity in their homeland enjoying the right of self-rule. If this political objective could be realised by peaceful means, we are prepared to adopt that method.

We have never shown any disinclination to win the political rights of our people through peaceful means. We have participated in peace negotiations at different places, at different times in different historical circumstances i.e in Thimpu, in Delhi, in Colombo, in Jaffna and now in Thailand. All previous attempts to a negotiated political settlement ended in fiasco. These failures could only be attributed to the hard-line attitude and deceitful political approaches of previous Sri Lanka governments. Now, the government of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe is attempting to resolve the problems of the Tamils with sincerity and courage. Furthermore, the current ceasefire built on a strong foundation and the sincere efforts of the international monitoring mission to further stabilise it, has helped to consolidate the peace process. The capable and skillful facilitation by the Norwegians has also contributed to the steady progress of the current peace talks. Above all, the concern, interests and enthusiasm shown by the international community has given hope and encouragement to both parties. The ideal approach is to move the talks forward, systematically, step by step, standing on a strong foundation of peace and building mutual confidence.

As a consequence of the brutal war that continued incessantly for more than two decades, our people face enormous existential problems. The social and political infrastructures of the Tamil nation are in ruins. The cities, towns and villages have been razed to the ground. Houses, temples and schools have been destroyed. An ancient civilization that stood on our lands for centuries has been uprooted. It is not possible for our people to rebuild their ruined social and economic structures. It is a monumental humanitarian problem. We hope that the international community will view the problem sympathetically. We are relieved to learn that international governments have come forward to assist the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the war damaged Tamil nation.

Though there is peace in the Tamil homeland, conditions of normalcy have not been restored. Under the cover of 'high security zones', the Sinhala armed forces are occupying residential areas and social, economic and cultural centres. Forty thousand troops are occupying Jaffna peninsula, which is a tiny geographical region with a dense population. The military occupation is suffocating the civilian masses and causing tensions. Jaffna, which is the cultural heartland of the Tamil people, has turned into an open prison. The occupying forces are using the civilians as their protective shields. As several villages, houses and roads are entrapped by occupation several thousands of internally displaced are unable to return to their residences. Unless this problem is resolved there is no possibility for normalcy and social peace to be restored to Jaffna.

It has always been our position that the urgent and immediate problems of our people should be resolved during the early stages of the peace talks. The former government of Sri Lanka rejected our position. As a result the peace talks broke down. There was a misconception on the part of the former regime that we were hesitant to take up the fundamental political issues and insisted on the resolution of the immediate problems. But the present government has been taking concrete actions redressing the urgent and immediate problems of our people. This is a positive development.

The objective of our struggle is based on the concept of self determination as articulated in the UN Charter and other instruments. We have always been consistent with our policy with regard to our struggle for self-determination. Tamil homeland, Tamil nationality and Tamil's right to self-determination are the fundamentals underlying our political struggle. We have been insisting on these fundamentals from Thimpu to Thailand. Our position is that the Tamil national question should be resolved on the basis of these core principles. Tamils constitute themselves as a people, or rather as a national formation since they possess a distinct language, culture and history with a clearly defined homeland and a consciousness of their ethnic identity. As a distinct people they are entitled to the right to self-determination. The right to self-determination has two aspects: internal and external. The internal self-determination entitles a people to regional self-rule.

The Tamil people want to live in freedom and dignity in their own lands, in their historically constituted traditional lands without the domination of external forces. They want to protect their national identity pursuing the development of their language, culture and economy. They want to live in their homeland under a system of self-rule. This is the political aspiration of our people. This constitutes the essential meaning of internal self-determination. We are prepared to consider favourably a political framework that offers substantial regional autonomy and self-government in our homeland on the basis of our right to internal self-determination. But if our people's right to self-rule is rejected we have no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state.

Racism and racist oppression are the causative factors for rebellions and secessionist politics. The Sinhalese people should identify and reject the racist forces if they desire a permanent peace, ethnic harmony and economic prosperity. They should support wholeheartedly, the efforts to find a political solution by peaceful means. The Sinhalese people should not oppose the Tamil's aspirations to manage their own affairs under a system of self-rule in their own homeland. It is the politics of the Sinhala nation that will eventually determine whether the Sinhalese could peacefully co-exist with the Tamils or compel the Tamils to secede.

We are pleased to note that the talks between the government and the LTTE are progressing forward under the conditions of mutual trust and goodwill. We are encouraged by the interest shown by the international community in the peace process and their willingness to offer assistance to rebuild the war damaged economy of the Tamil nation. It is our deepest desire that the current peace talks facilitated by Norway should succeed and all the communities living in the island should co-exist in harmony. If the Sinhala chauvinistic forces, for their own petty political reasons scuttle this peace effort which has raised high hopes and expectations and gained the support of the international community, the Tamil people will be compelled to pursue the path of secession and political independence."

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