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H.E the High Commissioner for Canada visits Kilinochchi

The High Commissioner expressed concern over the delay n restarting peace talks and warned that there is a great danger if the parties allow the gap to widen any further. She assured that the Government of Canada is fully committed to the peace process and would render all its support for the success of it, more so in the interest of the people in the NorthEast who have suffered immensely during the two-decade war.

Mr. Tamilselvan, acknowledging the dire necessity to recommence negotiations, said that the LTTE remains fully committed to the CFA and the peace process at large and is only waiting for the agenda from the facilitators after finalizing one. He however expressed concern over the accusation that the LTTE is indecisive and inflexible and put the onus on to the government side since the government is not speaking in one voice as to what the hesitation is about to the recommencement.

Responding to the question as to whether the LTTE is still committed to the declaration made in Oslo, Mr. Tamilselvan said that there is no change whatsoever in the LTTE's commitment to explore viable alternatives that would accommodate the Tamil aspirations. Lamenting over the lethargic approach in the south, Mr. Tamilselvan said that Colombo has not taken any tangible measures to bring about a change of heart in the electorate that would facilitate devolution of power as against a unitary centralized pattern of governance. In this respect, Mr. Tamilselvan continued that the LTTE has taken many initiatives in disseminating political ground realities to the electorate in the south by inviting journalists, civilian based organizations, peace groups, religious entities etc to familiarize themselves with Tamil perspectives.

Explaining the Tamil mandate of 2004 the Political Head said that the international community has a moral obligation to respect this mandate of the Tamil people in the backdrop of the mandate for secession in 1977 and ensure that the Tamil people get the due recognition in the matter of placing the ISGA proposals as the basis on which peace talks should restart. Building confidence and thereby making the people real stake holders in the peace process, Mr. Tamilselvan said, would enable the parties to seriously engage in the political resolution of the national conflict.

Associated with Mr. Tamilselvan were Mr. P. Nadesan, Head of the Tamil Eelam Police and Mr. S.Puleedevan, Secretary General. Peace Secretariat.

After this meeting the High Commissioner visited the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights and had discussions with the Chair person Rev. Fr. Karunaratnam on issues relating to human rights violations and had an overview of the various steps taken by the entity to help local people in bringing to light instances of human rights violations.

20 September 2004

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