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Washington
D. C. U.S. Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage in an address in Washington
said internal self determination, within the framework of one Sri
Lanka, was not going to be consistent with separate armies and navies
for different parts of the country and that the LTTE, down the road
in the peace process, will have to face up to disarmament issues. Speaking at
the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington
on Friday, February 14, Mr. Armitage stressed on the prospects of
peace and the problematic challenges ahead, and highlighted recent
incidents that have roused tension. While commending
the peace talks in Berlin during which time LTTE cadres blew themselves
up when an arms-laden trawler was apprehended, Mr. Armitage said
this incident raised questions on the LTTE's commitment to the peace
process. "The LTTE
is going to have to take a number of difficult steps to demonstrate
that it remains committed to a political solution. The Tigers
need to honour the restrictions and conditions, that the ceasefire
and future negotiations, have placed on their arms supply".
Mr. Armitage
also touched on the broken pledges of the LTTE on matters regarding
child recruitment. He said, "the LTTE has often pledged to
stop recruitment of child soldiers, but this time, they will have
to prove they can carry through and will carry through on the pledge".
He also called on the LTTE to respect the rights of Muslims and
Sinhalese living in areas under its control. He called on the LTTE to renounce the terror tactics of the past and re establish its commitment to a political settlement and to a credible peace, if the United States is to consider removing the LTTE from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organization. Mr. Armitage
said that although the United States is encouraged by the LTTE's
vision as a genuine political entity, the organization must 'publicly
and unequivocally renounce terrorism and prove that its days of
violence are over'. "If the
LTTE can move beyond the terror tactics of the past and make a convincing
case through its conduct and its actual actions that it is committed
to a political solution and to peace, the United States will certainly
consider removing the LTTE from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
as well as any other terrorism-related designations," Mr. Armitage
said. The Government, on the other hand, he said, must tackle key economic reforms, because ultimately the Sri Lankan community, especially in the South of the country will judge the efficacy of the peace process by its effects on their livelihood. He called on
both the Government and the LTTE to make concrete choices and compromises
by June, when the donor conference is due to be held in Japan, demonstrating
a united political will to proceed if they intend to seek international
assistance. "By June,
both the government and the LTTE will need to have made some hard
choices and compromises that demonstrate the political will to proceed
if they want to meet their ambitions for international support". While commending both parties for maintaining the ceasefire for an year, which has built a basic level of confidence among the public, he stressed that they should continue to honour the ceasefire and warned that a loss of confidence at this point would be 'extraordinarily devastating'. Mr. Armitage assured U.S. support for the peace process stating that he hoped to announce further assistance to Sri Lanka for humanitarian and economic aid at the donor conference to be held in June. Ethnic, cultural diversity Lanka’s strong point Sri Lankan ambassador
Devinda R. Subasinghe addressing a gathering at a seminar on Sri
Lanka organised by the Centre for Strategic and International studies
in Washington read out a statement issued by Economic Affairs Minister
Milinda Moragoda which highlighted the present economic and peace
initiatives in Sri Lanka. "Unfortunately
today we are near the bottom of the Asian economic league with our
economy in tatters, society divided along ethnic and religious lines.
Our society is demoralised and our people have lost their sense
of self confidence, our educational system barley survives and post
independence Sri Lanka has left a trail of lost opportunities. Indeed
ethnic and cultural diversity which should be our biggest strength
was exploited by our politicians and projected as a weakness. Minister
Moragoda's statement went on to say: "Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to the United States last year and his meeting with President Bush laid a new foundation for US /Sri Lanka co-operation. 'The signing
of a trade and investment framework agreement (TIFA) at that time
has created the basis for increased trade and investment cooperation
between the two countries. In addition , visits by teams of experts
to Sri Lanka to assess needs relating to the economy and national
security have laid out the contours for future cooperation in these
spheres. "The Prime
Minister and his team has also been responsible for further broadening
and deepening of the bilateral relationship between India and Sri
Lanka. Initiatives
in this direction include the proposal to convert the existing free
trade agreement between the two countries into a comprehensive economic
partnership agreement that would cover all spheres of economic activity.
And an initiative to establish a land bridge linking the two countries
as well as multi faceted initiatives to increase cooperation in
investment, information technology and tourism. We have to
build a national consensus where all communities and political interests
are properly represented within a united Sri Lanka. This is what
our our Prime Minister campaigned for during the General Election
of 2001 and this is now what he is implementing. Without the
international community investing political and economic capita
in this process it is doomed to fail. We are specially encouraged
by the support of so many in the international community including
the United States, India and Japan besides Norway which we all know
is playing a critical role by facilitating the peace process." "The warm
heart refers to a genuine desire for peace but that desire must
be tinged with the realism that are a nation building once more.
The cool head relates to our need, after twenty bitter years, to
keep up our guard . We will not drop our guard until a peaceful
solution is finally agreed. In this sense of new found realism,
neither can we expect the LTTE to drop their guard until a lot more
trust building has taken place. So those in our country who demand
that the LTTE hand over their weapons understand very little of
the dynamics of these negotiations. "Right
from the outset the LTTE and the government took a pragmatic and
protective approach to trust building. Several joint mechanisms
were set up to address areas such as immediate humanitarian support,
resettlement, security issues, as well as women's issues. "There
have been problems. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission from the Nordic
countries has been on the frontline of monitoring the ceasefire
often risking their lives and on many occasions the agreement has
been broken. Child conscription, extortion and allegations of arms
smuggling by the LTTE have been areas for recent concern. But during
the last session of talks these matters were discussed in depth
with the LTTE. As a result the government and the LTTE have invited
UNICEF to help in developing a roadmap to end child conscription
and to look into the area of welfare. In just a few short months
it has shown that there can be economic development. Without that
economic development peace will be harder to achieve. "International community must focus on three key issues of support. As the focus of the world turns to other areas of conflict and uncertainty it should not be assumed that peace is guaranteed in Sri Lanka.Without continued world security, political support our peace process could easily slip backward into war once more," the statement added. No force, diplomatically or politically, can force us to lay down arms: Balasingham Extracts of
Anton Balasingham's Speech made in Germany on February 9 at a meeting
organized by a LTTE lobby group. "The government
is maintaining double standards. At the centre the Parliamentary
power is with the Prime Minister and the executive powers are with
the president. We are talking with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. "The Colombo politicians do not have a clear policy. They are divided. That is the reason they cannot implement decisions and the peace process is very slow. "Some elements
who are involved in propaganda against us claim we have dropped
the Tamil Eelam goal. That is not correct. Our leader has very clearly
stated this in his Martyrs day speech. In his speech he has said
that Self-rule should be given to us under a Federal setup. If this
is denied we have no alternative, other than to form a separate
government. This is not an emotional demand, but is politically
and scenitifically correct'. "Do not
ask us the weapons . We will not give it. We have gone house to
house around the world to collect the money from you. We have purchased
weapons with this money. "Until
a just solution is reached we are not ready to hand over weapons.
If the government has the courage to demand for the weapons why
don't you come and take it away. But we know that you will not do
it as you will lose the remaining arms. No forces either diplomatically
or politically can force us to lay down arms. Since we have
been cheated by the Sinhala leadership in the past, we are not foolish
to surrender weapons. We should remember that emotional talks won't
bring results, only the violence can bring results. "We want to show to the international community that we are genuinely committed towards peace. That is why with so many incidents we are continuing the talks. “If the
Sinhala nation tries to decive us and force the war upon us we have
no choice, other than to return to war. "We are acquiring weapons,
recruiting people, training people and also using this opportunity
to improve our economy. But the Sinhala nation is not so. There economy
has collapsed. Even during the peace process there are deserters
from the army and they cannot match our military. They are losing
control of the situation. But Mr. Wickremesinghe cannot understand
this." |
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