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Arch Bishop Malcolm Ranjith and Bishops of Jaffna and Mannar on peace mission to Kilinochchi

The religious dignitaries expressed their whole-hearted support for the peace process and were anxious to find out from the Political Head the reasons for the delay in the recommencement of peace talks. Mr. Tamilselvan, in briefing the Bishops on the current situation said that the Tamil people and the LTTE are eagerly waiting for the response from the government for the recommencement of political negotiations. However, Mr. Tamilselvan said, the basis of negotiations as expressed clearly by the LTTE, should be the ISGA proposals.

Amplifying further, Mr. Tamilselvan said that it is wrong to construe the ISGA proposals as a political strategy and realistically it is a proposal to meet with the urgent humanitarian needs of a people who faced the devastations of a cruel war for more than two decades. Implementing the CFA in full for the delivery of the vital peace dividend, normalcy and institutionalizing the ISGA solely for effectively carrying out resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation are the key, Mr. Tamilselvan said, to put the peace process back in track.

Arch Bishop Malcolm Ranjith appreciated the LTTE's strong commitment to the CFA and the peace process and said that they understand the problem in the light of what Mr. Tamilselvan's discourse and promised to take this message to the President. They also expressed solidarity of the Church and assured their advocacy of peace and justice to all.

15 August 2004

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