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Interim council for north-east
PM holds legal talks in London
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is to seek expert legal advice in London before formulating the UNF government's fresh proposals to meet the Tiger guerilla demand for a 'politico administrative interim structure' for the north-east.
Mr. Wickremesinghe who left for London last night is being accompanied by Attorney General K.C. Kamalasabayson for this purpose.

President, PM to jointly tackle crime
President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday took up for discussion the breakdown of the law and order situation and decided to take remedial action, the President's Office said yesterday.

A statement from the President's Office said the two leaders had given serious consideration to the deteriorating law and order situation in the country and discussed the possibility of setting up an authority under an act of parliament to deal with this situation.

"There was a lengthy discussion on the deteriorating law and order situation in the country and it was agreed that urgent steps had to be taken in the public interest to arrest an alarming decline in the standards of protection afforded to the people of the country," the statement said.

"Special attention was paid to the growing problem of the availability of narcotics and drug abuse specially among children. Consideration is to be given to the establishment of an authority under an act of parliament to deal with the problem.

"It was agreed that the President and the Prime Minister with one or two others and the relevant law enforcement and security agencies would meet in committee at least once a month to review the law and order situation and take corrective action.

"The President and the Prime Minister will give personal leadership to this committee to make it clear that law and order would have to be enforced by the police and other concerned agencies without fear or favour or political bias," the statement said.

Presidential advisor Lakshman Kadirgamar was present throughout the discussion. At the start of the meeting the Prime Minister's secretary, Bradman Weerakoon, and Acting Presidential Secretary W.J.S. Karunaratne, were present for certain administrative matters.

The Sunday Times learns that the shape and content of the fresh proposals will take into consideration the expert opinion to be obtained from British legal and constitutional experts. The Attorney General's presence is to ensure the broadest possible consideration is given to meet the demands placed by the LTTE. This is whilst maintaining the twin objectives of ensuring that the fresh proposals are within the confines of the constitution and meet the aspirations of all communities.

During a two-hour discussion at the Janadhipathi Mandiraya on Friday, Premier Wickremesinghe is learnt to have briefed President Chandrika Kumaratunga on the current status of the peace talks. He had told her that his government was giving priority consideration to the proposals since it wanted to draw an LTTE response. Moreso, since it was unclear still to the government as to what exactly the LTTE expected when it asked that details of an envisaged structure be spelt out.

Addressing the nation on Thursday, Premier Wickremesinghe said his government was prepared to discuss an interim administration for the north-east. "We plan to establish an interim council with the agreement of the LTTE that will safeguard the rights of all communities," he said. Responding to the statements, LTTE Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham said the Premier had not spelt out the envisaged structure.

"Operating within the confines of an entrenched constitution and facing a hostile President, Ranil's administration is reluctant to offer anything substantial in the form of an interim administration. Instead, the government is calling upon the LTTE to come up with a practical solution to draw up a mechanism. It is not prudent on the part of the LTTE to present a structure or mechanism for an interim administrative set-up without any idea of the scope and extent to which the government could offer politico-administrative powers to the LTTE. It is precisely for this reason we are calling upon the government to come out with its ideas," Mr. Balasingham observed in response.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Secretariat said that at Friday's talks the Prime Minister briefed the President on some of the ideas on the question of an interim administration for the north and east but added that the government had not finalised the proposals to be submitted to the LTTE.

"National security questions were also discussed in relation to the defence of the state and the multiple assassinations of political activists that were taking place regularly in the North and East. The question of providing adequate protection for political activists who were disarmed under the cease-fire agreement is to be examined," the Secretariat said in a statement.

During the discussions, President Kumaratunga and the Prime Minister had touched on a range of other issues including the breakdown of the law and order situation in the country. Meanwhile our London Correspondent Neville de Silva adds:
Mr. Wickremesinghe who is accompanied by Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando and the government's two main negotiators G. L. Peiris and Milinda Moragoda, is due to have discussions with his British counterpart Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw at 10 Downing Street tomorrow.

Mr. Wickremesinghe's visit for bilateral talks comes hard on the visits earlier of Indian Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Asked whether these visits by South Asian leaders just days apart showed any particular significance, a Foreign Office source said this was coincidental.
The Sri Lankan delegation will also meet Baroness Amos, the International Development Secretary who succeeded Claire Short who resigned recently over differences with Mr. Blair over developments in the aftermath of the war on Iraq.
That meeting is understandable since the British component of the reconstruction aid pledged at the Tokyo conference this month would be channelled through the Department for International Development.

The meeting that Sri Lanka has asked for with Home Secretary David Blunkett is what has raised some eyebrows here. It could only mean that Sri Lanka is interested in discussing the overall question of Sri Lankan refugees in the UK. Last week Sri Lanka was one of seven new countries added to an existing list of 17 as part of the British Government's attempts to cut annual asylum applications by half.
Sri Lanka is now on the so-called "White List" which means that it is one of the states deemed to be safe and from which applications for asylum will be assumed to be unfounded.

Failed Sri Lankan applicants will now be fast tracked and sent home without a chance of appeal if their applications fail. Under another asylum bill being considered by the Blair government, the destruction of travel documents – a practice widely adopted by Tamil asylum seekrs – will count against asylum seekers in the decision-making process.

Home Secretary Blunkett also oversees the operation of the anti-terrorism law and it is quite possible the Sri Lanka delegation wishes to discuss this, especially the aspect of LTTE fund-raising which goes on under other names and ruses. But the centrepiece of the discussions would be on getting the LTTE back to the negotiating table and what diplomatic pressure can be brought to bear to achieve this. It is likely in this context that the British Government would issue a statement urging the resumption of the peace process.

Since it is the LTTE that withdrew from the talks and has now turned down the latest proposal for a power-sharing structure offered by Mr. Wickremesinghe, any British statement urging both sides to resume their dialogue, is obviously directed at the LTTE.

Minister Moragoda's arrival in London on Thursday night ahead of the prime ministerial party is perhaps to work out the logistics what with Mr. Wickremesinghe due to address the London Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday and possibly launch a UK-Sri Lanka Business Council.

But there is also speculation that Mr. Moragoda might be trying to make contact with LTTE negotiator Anton Balasingham who had earlier turned down a meeting with the Japanese special envoy Yasushi Akashi in London. With no preparations at all for Mr. Akashi to come to London for a meeting with Mr. Balasingham, it is possible that somebody with the Sri Lanka delegation would try to set up a meeting with the LTTE negotiator.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is expected to stay back for a couple of days privately after the two-day official visit is over. This "private visit" has added fuel to the speculation about contacts with the LTTE.

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