Govt. not following ‘peace at any cost’ policy, says Tyronne
Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando has said that the Government is not pursuing a policy of peace at any cost and reiterated the UNF position that the country will not be divided and handed over, a Ministry release states.

Mr. Fernando made these observations when he delivered a speech at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the release adds.

Answering questions at the end of his speech, Mr. Fernando touched on issues ranging from an imminent dissolution of government to child recruitment by the LTTE.
On the question of crimes committed by LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, Mr. Fernando said the issue should not cloud the peace process.

Commenting on India's role, the Minister said that he had accompanied Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to India and met not only Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani but also Opposition Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. He said he could assure that India would not stand in the way of the ongoing peace negotiations. "We continue to keep India informed of the developments in the peace process." Asked whether the problem in Sri Lanka was ethnic or not, Mr. Fernando said that whether real or perceived, grievances could not be ignored.

He said that when the British ruled Sri Lanka there was a feeling of discrimination in favour of the Tamil community. "In fact 40% of the public servants were Tamils. There was a feeling that they got special treatment with regard to employment and educational opportunities. With the dawn of independence and advent of governments with Sinhala majority, this position was reversed. This was exemplified owing to the Sinhala only policy and standardization of marks to enter the university. Therefore the Tamils have felt that they were now being discriminated. We must face these challenges. Otherwise there is no use of the peace process," he said the release stated.

Minister Fernando said President Chandrika Kumaratunga had given an assurance that as long as the peace talks were in progress, she would not disturb it by dissolving parliament and holding elections as it would be counter productive to the peace process.

Asked whether the government wants to have peace at any cost, the Minister said that if that is the policy of the government there was no need to embark on a peace process. "If as some say the government had a secret pact to divide the country, there is no need for negotiations and the country could have been divided and handed over. We are not prepared to do it. We have very clearly said that the country is not up for division. It is one Sri Lanka."

On the subject of recruitment of child soldiers by the LTTE, Mr. Fernando said UNICEF Executive Director Carrol Bellamy during her recent visit to Sri Lanka had met LTTE's Political Wing Leader S. P. Thamilselvan and obtained an assurance that the LTTE would stop recruiting children. "The UNICEF is drawing up a plan of action to see that child soldiers are returned to their parents with a view to reintegrate them into society," Mr. Fernando said according to the release.

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