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JVP, JHU to monitor Geneva talks from Temple Trees
By Shimali Senanayake
An operations centre is being set up at Temple Trees with links to the venue in Geneva where the government and the LTTE will meet on Wednesday, for the first high-level talks in nearly three years.

The centre, with direct links to the castle known as Chateau de Bosse, will enable the government delegation in Geneva to brief President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the government's constituent partners, particularly the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) on developments.

While aiming to keep Colombo briefed, the telephone links will also facilitate to measure the progress of the two-day sessions and ways to handle any unexpected issues that may crop up. The main government delegation for the talks leaves tomorrow via London for crucial negotiations to save a fragile ceasefire and prevent the country from slipping back to war.

The talks are to begin on Wednesday, February 22, four years to the date the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran signed a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire agreement. The LTTE team left the island on Friday.

The two-day session will be the first face-to-face meeting between the parties in three years and takes place amid fears that the country had slid dangerously close to resuming civil war following a spate of killings.The meeting is expected to focus on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, which both sides accuse each other of failing to honour.

Among the issues that are tipped to be taken up at the table are the disarming of armed groups with special focus on the Karuna factor, killings and harassment of civilians, sea access, and matters connected to the high security zone.

"We are looking forward to fruitful negotiations," the government's chief negotiator and senior minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told The Sunday Times. "We hope to arrive at a situation that is beneficial to the whole country," he said, declining to elaborate.

The LTTE expressed guarded optimism. "We don't want to predict anything," LTTE Peace Secretariat Chief S. Pulidevan told The Sunday Times, just before boarding a flight to Geneva on Friday. "Our objective is to create a conducive atmosphere where people can live without fear and intimidation," he said.
Apart from the issues discussed at the table, a large part of the success of the Swiss negotiations will be commitment from both sides to continue the process of talks, which will function as a measure of their sincerity toward peace.

After more than two months of killings, the violence had abated following the breakthrough achieved by top Norwegian special peace envoy Erik Solheim on January 25.

"The atmosphere between the parties is still not good as the air has been poisoned. It has improved a bit but there is a lot more needed to restore confidence between the parties," said Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission chief Hagrup Haukland.

"We have some recommendations on how the situation can be improved but it is up to the parties to decide on implementation," said Mr. Haukland, who will also be a part of the truce talks.

Mr. Solheim has also cautioned that negotiations will be "tough." He will facilitate the meeting, aided by Norway's former deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen.

Both sides, especially the government team, have been preparing intensely for the talks with almost daily deliberations in the last two weeks.
The government also sought the help of two peace-building experts to prod them with the 'nuts and bolts' of negotiations.

The delegates met President Mahinda Rajapaksa at 4 p.m. yesterday and discussed matters for three hours. Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was the first among the government delegation to take flight. He left last night on board a Qatar Airways flight which he delayed for 20 minutes. The flight was scheduled to leave at 20:10. Mr. Bogollagama was accompanied by his wife.

Minister de Silva, who heads the Government delegation and Ministers Feriel Ashraff, and Jeyaraj Fernandopulle will leave for Geneva today while an advisory team led by the peace secretariat chief John Gooneratne will leave separately along with a support delegation.

A 12-member LTTE delegation led by its political chief S.P. Thamilselvan arrived in Geneva yesterday and was set to meet LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham in the Swiss diplomatic capital to finalize discussions ahead of Wednesday's talks.

Mr. Balasingham, accompanied by his Australian-born wife, Adele, flew from their home in London. The Swiss Ambassador left yesterday to make the final preparations. The Swiss government will handle all arrangements concerning logistics while Norway will be in charge of organizing media matters.

The LTTE delegation is scheduled to travel to the Norwegian capital Oslo on Feb. 28 and then on to Iceland before returning to Colombo. "The implementation of what is discussed at the table will be the deciding factor," Mr. Pulidevan said.

The Government team: Main delegation; Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Ferial Ashraff, Rohitha Bogollagama, Police Chief Chandra Fernando, IGP, Presidential Peace Advisor Dr. Palitha Kohona and senior lawyer Gomin Dayasiri,.

The advisory team: Peace Secretariat Chief John Gooneratne, deputy director Shanaka Jayasekera, Navy commander W.K.J. Karannagoda, Brig. M. Samarasinghe, Plan Implementation Ministry Secretary Nivard Cabraal, senior lawyer H. L. de Silva and Sri Lanka’s UN envoys Sarala Fernando (Geneva) and Prasad Kariyawasam (New York).

A dozen others will be in the support team, including three representatives from the ministry of defense. The LTTE team: Anton Balasingham, S.P. Thamilselvan, Tiger police chief B. Nadesan, Jayam, Ilenthirayan (Marshall) and Adele Balasingham. Advisers: S. Pulidevan and Ms. Selvi.

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