Sixth Round of Peace Negotiations Continue in Japan - Day 2
The second day of peace talks consisted of two sittings and as expected discussions centred around the issues of resettlement of internally displaced people, rehabilitaion & reconstruction and human rights. Japanese special envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi was an active participant in the meeting. He encouraged both parties to fervently pursue peace and demonstrate progress. He highlighted that such progress would be a pre-requisite for obtaining aid from donor countries.
The morning session reviewed the progress of the Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs (SIHRN). Mr.S.P.Tamilselvan, head of the political wing of the LTTE, pointed out that the functioning of the SIHRN secretariat and implementation of the projects were progressing at a less than satisfactory pace and impacted adversely on rehabilitaion and reconstruction efforts. Establishment of the North-East Reconstruction Fund was designated as a priority and further preliminary discussions centred on the administration of the proposed fund. Resettlement of internally displaced persons in the Jaffna peninsula, especially in relation to the high security zones were again discussed in this session. In the afternoon session, human rights issues were addressed with the participation of international human rights advisor and former Secretary General of Amnesty International, Mr.Ian Martin. The human rights issues in relation to the women and children affected by the war were discussed at length. It has also been decided that the next round of negotiations would be held in Thailand. At the end of the day's sessions, Mr. Anton Balasingam in his comments to the press, highlighted the participation of the Japanese Special Envoy, Mr. Yasushi Akashi and his commitment to directly engage and help with the rehabilitation and reconstruction process as a very important development in the peace process.
19 March 2003
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Europe which has a total population of 800 million is made up of 45 language based nation states. South Asia which has a total population of one billion, (1000 million) is comprised of four states. Who is preventing and therefore benefiting by limiting new nation-states in South Asia?
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