"The second round of talks took place at the political headquarters of the LTTE in Jaffna on the 2nd of January 1995. This time the government team included a senior army officer Brigadier A.S Peris and a naval officer, Captain Prasanna Rajaratne. Mr. Tamilselvan, head of the political wing, led the LTTE delegation.

Head of LTTE negotiating team, Mr.S.P.Tamilselvan (left)
greets Brig. A.S.Peries, a member of Sri Lanka Delegation

The discussions were primarily centred on the procedures, modalities, supervision and implementation of a cessation of hostilities. It was decided that armed combat formations of both parties should maintain present positions keeping a distance of 600 metres between them and freeze all hostile armed activities or offensive operations during cessation of hostilities.

The government delegation agreed to allow normal fishing except in specified areas i.e. the vicinity of naval bases and coastal military camps. Both the parties agreed to form monitoring committees to supervise and inquire into the violations of the terms of agreement. The committees would be appointed in all the Tamil districts in the Northeast and be chaired by foreign representatives. It was also decided that notice of termination of cessation of hostilities should be given at least 72 hours before termination. A brief seven point document was formulated during the talks specifying the terms and conditions of the truce agreement.

The formal declaration of the cessation of hostilities was signed simultaneously by both President Kumaratunga in Colombo and Mr. V.Pirabakaran in Jaffna and the document was exchanged between them by the good offices of the ICRC. The cessation of hostilities came into effect from 8th January 1995." from Politics of Duplicity : Re-visiting the Jaffna Talks  by Anton Balasingham