The US would work with any president the people in Sri Lanka decide to elect
November 3, 2005LTTE should be credible for south to accept federalism
While a federal solution remains the best option to resolve the North and East conflict, the LTTE has to give up violence and prove itself a trustworthy talking partner for the south to accept federalism, former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said yesterday.
“There is no compromise on the issue. The LTTE has to give up violence and resume negotiations with the government” the former second in command at the US State Department told the Daily Mirror from his residence in Virginia, United States, in a telephone interview.
Emphasizing the need to curb the escalating incidence of violence by the LTTE, Armitage who played a major role in Sri Lanka’s peace process during the previous United National Front (UNF) regime, said he was “horrified” when he heard of the assassination of former Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
“I was also aghast when I learnt the manner in which that senior police officer (SSP Charles Wijewardena) was murdered” said Mr. Armitage.
Reminding that the co-chairs have already conveyed strong messages to the LTTE which include a travel ban by the EU, Armitage however added that failure to rope the LTTE into a joint tsunami reconstruction mechanism was a missed opportunity for the government.
“The LTTE for the first time conceded the government’s right to the North and East including the uncleared areas by agreeing for a joint mechanism. That definitely was a big achievement for the government and it is unfortunate that the move fell through” he reminded.
However he added that the United States and the other three co-chairs consider it a major achievement from the part of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE that they have managed to hold on to the ceasefire even after three and half years into the signing of the truce agreement.
This, the former Vietnam war veteran said had more than anything else given the hope that the two parties would be able to sit down for talks once again.
“There is no other option for the LTTE. It has to give up violence, sit down for talks and agree to share power with the government” Armitage emphasized.
On the decision to include a separate Muslim delegation from the next round of talks and convert the discussions to tri-partite negotiations, he said “while it may make the talks more complex, such an inclusion is a must in order to make sure that the final settlement is accepted by all communities”.
Speaking on the LTTE’s harping on the exclusion from the 2003 April Washington donor conference which the Tigers gave as one of the excuses to suspend its participation at peace talks, he observed that “it is commonsense that such an invitation cannot be made since the LTTE is in the list of banned organizations”. However he reminded that despite the ban, as the US envoy at the Oslo conference in November 2002, he sat in the same audience with the LTTE.
Commenting on the November 17 Presidential polls Armitage said the main concern of the US and the international community was how free and fair the election would be.
Asked about the general impression that the US may prefer one candidate to the other of the two main candidates, the former Deputy Secretary of State said the US would work with any president the people in Sri Lanka decide to elect.
“It is the manner in which the elections are conducted that we are concerned of” Mr. Armitage reiterated.
courtesy Daily Mirror
