The high-profile Oslo meeting attended by heavyweights from the United States, Britain, Japan and more than 30 other donor delegates saw the LTTE taking a defensive posture as regards its commitment to peace. The pressure was obviously on the LTTE, when the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage urged the rebels to renounce violence and recognize Sri Lanka's sovereignty. It was probably a peace trap for the LTTE.

"Tactics of terror can never achieve legitimate aspirations," Mr. Armitage said.

In response to the Armitage bombshell, LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham said his group had pledged not to resort to war when it entered into the Norway-facilitated peace process.

That the LTTE reiterated its position in Oslo assumes added significance because the statement was made for the direct consumption of the international community, which pledged more than 70 million US dollars for the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country, especially the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

The donor nations urged the two sides in the Sri Lanka conflict not to resort to war again and warned them of terrible repercussions if the peace process was abandoned.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who made history by shaking hands with an LTTE leader for the first time in 12 years told the donor conference that he would make the full use of his parliamentary majority to make the peace dream a reality. He was to stress the same point on Thursday when he met newspaper editors at his official residence in Colombo.

Though the Untied States was represented by the deputy secretary of state level, there was no aid pledge from that country. Mr. Armitage said that any aid pledge had to be approved by the Congress which had yet to pass the budget for the next year. However, he assured that Washington would be in a position to pledge a big aid package to Sri Lanka at the Tokyo aid conference next year.

The Oslo conference made a big impact on LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's Heroes' Day speech two days later.

Mr. Prabhakaran indicated in his speech that the LTTE had given up its demand for a separate state and he was willing to settle for regional autonomy or what he described as internal self-administration within Sri Lanka. However, his speech also contained a warning. He said the LTTE would not renounce violence as yet just because the peace process was making progress and the US had made a request to that effect.

"If our demand for regional self-rule, based on the right to internal self-determination, is rejected, we have no alternative but to secede and form an independent state," he said in an 18-minute speech broadcast over the rebel radio.

The speech was an indication that the LTTE wants to continue to talk peace from a position of strength. It does not want to be cajoled by the international community or the Sri Lankan government. Probably it was all part of the bargaining strategy.
When Prime Minister Wickremesinghe met Anton Balasingham in Oslo for a face-to-face dialogue, the issue of LTTE courts was taken up. Dr. Balasingham said the LTTE courts functioned only in areas under rebel control and pointed out such courts were in operation for the past four years or so.

On his return to Sri Lanka, the Premier ordered Police Chief T. E. Anandarajah to find out whether such rebel courts existed in government-controlled areas and if there were any, arrest the judges and dismantle the courts.

The Police Chief in his report said there were no such courts operating in government-controlled areas.

The issue of LTTE courts was also taken up at the pre-cabinet meeting on Wednesday. At this meeting, the ministers expressed concern over an Oslo-datelined Reuter report, which quoted Dr. Balasingham as rejecting the US call to renounce violence. The LTTE Chief negotiator was quoted as saying that it was premature to renounce violence at this stage. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said the Reuter report had misquoted Dr. Balasingham.

The Prime Minister read out an intelligence report where the last week's newspaper pictures depicting an LTTE courtroom scenario had been discussed. The report claimed the pictures were taken by a journalist who visited the LTTE controlled area. The Prime Minister said the pictured courtroom was in the LTTE controlled areas and the newspapers had tried to give a wrong picture to the readers by not clearly stating the facts.

On Thursday, Mr. Wickremesinghe met the newspaper editors at Temple Trees. He told them that he had briefed President Chandrika Kumaratunga on the progress the government had made so far in the peace process and the talks with the LTTE.
Mr. Wickremesinghe said the confrontation in the battlefield had now shifted to the negotiating table but it was still a tough climb.

He said he observed a marked shift in the approach of the LTTE when he had direct talks with Dr. Balasingham in Oslo.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said the LTTE raised fears about the continuation of the peace process in the event the government changes. The Prime Minister said he assured Dr. Balasingham that his government would not go out of office and even if a new government took over, it would continue with what had been achieved so far.

The Prime Minister said he assured the LTTE that his administration had got a mandate for its peace initiative from the people and only the people could push the Government out of the process.

The Premier said he also assured Dr. Balasingham that the government had full control over the military when the LTTE chief delegate complained about certain elements in the armed forces not abiding by the spirit of the ceasefire agreement.

Referring to the Oslo declaration and the word "institutions" mentioned there, the Prime Minister said, several international donors had expressed their concerns about a situation where court rulings become an impediment to the peace talks.

He said that Court decision such as sentencing LTTE leader Prabhakaran would not hinder the Government's approach towards peace talks and that he would not allow anybody to stand in its way.

The Premier said if such a situation arose, Parliament would deal with it.
Minister G. L. Peiris associated the Prime Minster at the meeting with the editors. The Minister said LTTE leader Prabhakaran in his speech had said that they would resort to violence only if all attempts at a negotiated settlement failed. It was in such a context that the LTTE spoke of violence.

As part of his efforts to take the peace process forward, the Prime Minister will visit Japan this week. His visit would be a precursor for the Tokyo donor meeting. On December 5, he is expected to meet the Japanese Prime Minister.

The same day, the politics of Sri Lanka will take a turn in favour of the President. On December 5, the UNF government completes one year in office. On the same day, the President will be empowered to dissolve parliament under the constitution.

Political uncertainty is expected to prevail while both the PA and the UNF will weigh all options before them to strike when the right opportunity arises. Some analysts say that amidst this uncertainty, the two parties will act in a true spirit of bipartisanship.

Meanwhile, the President is taking discreet steps to consolidate her position in the party. She has been inviting PA MPs in batches for dinner at President's House.

The latest guests were Ronnie de Mel and his wife. It is in one such meetings the President is said to have criticized Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapakse for failing to stand by Chief Opposition Whip Mangala Samaraweera when he came under fire from the government side for not submitting opposition proposals for budget cuts in time.

On Monday, Mr. Rajapakse met the President. He asked the President whether she had made such a remark. The President said she never made such a remark and asked him to name the person who conveyed such a lie. Mr. Rajapakse said it was only a rumour and they should not split hairs over it. Later the duo had a friendly conversation on various issues.

- Based on the Sunday Lankadeepa political column

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