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“Airport is no place for political discussions devoid of mistrust”

“Katunayake international airport cannot be a venue for meaningful political discussions and the argument that it is secure for LTTE as a transit point to a location outside Sri Lanka, does not hold good when what is contemplatd is a serious political discussion involving decisions at the top to trickle down to the armed forces for proper implementation of the CFA” said Mr.S.P.Tamilselvan, responding to the suggestion put forward by Norway.

In a meeting with the Norwegian Deputy Ambassador and Head of the SLMM today 8 September 2005 at the Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi, Norway’s suggestion to have the proposed discussion between the GoSL and the LTTE at the Katunayake airport was ruled out by Mr.Tamilselvan as totally unacceptable. “Parties to the CFA have not been meeting for quite some time now and the CFA has run into risk by the SriLankan government not implementing clauses that facilitate normalcy to the war affected people, resulting in frustration and a political vacuum which necessitates a common venue equally comfortable for both the parties” said Mr.Tamilselvan, reiterating the fairness of the request.

Touching on the political trend and preoccupation of the south in the presidential poll, Mr.Tamilselvan lamented that extremist elements are joining hands in an unprecedented manner to shatter the core concept of political resolution through negotiations on sharing of power. “The overwhelming desire one sees in the political landscape in the south seems to be the continuation of the ‘unitary state’ and throw to the winds any understanding on humanitarian delivery for tsunami victims through a well structured mechanism and this nullifies the efforts taken during the last three and a half years to build confidence” said Mr.Tamilselvan regretfully.

Head of the SLMM, in responding to Mr.Tamilselvan on a clarification of the news item that the SLMM met with dismissed LTTE member Karuna’s armed group in a location in Batticaloa, said that the purpose of the meeting was to confirm this group’s presence in GoSL controlled areas and confront the SriLankan government on the ground reality which is being continuously denied by the SriLankan government. Mr.Tamilselvan said that this is the cardinal issue that need immediate action to end violence and now that the SLMM has had an opportunity to vouchsafe their presence in close proximity to the SL military in violation of the relevant CFA clause, it should act meaningfully in urging the Sri Lankan government to get rid of these armed elements.

08 September 2005

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