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Home > Struggle for Tamil Eelam > Sri Lanka's Broken Pacts & Evasive Proposals > Chandrika - LTTE Talks: 1994/95 > Press Release by Political Committee of LTTE, 7 March 1995
Chandrika - LTTE Talks: 1994/95 Liberation Tigers not opposed to foreign mediation
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Jaffna released on 6 March the text of a letter dated 25th February from LTTE leader Mr. Velupillai Pirabaharan, to Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga. The letter was in response to a letter dated 20th February from the Sri Lanka President.
In his letter to the Sri Lanka president, Mr. Pirabaharan said:
| "It is our desire that the talks between the Liberation
Tigers and the Sri Lanka Government should be open and not secret. In a
situation where the international community as well as our people are
closely watching the progress of our talks with the Government, we do not
see that it would. be proper or advisable for us to exchange views in secret
through a private individual. We have examined with care the questions that you have raised in your letter. We desire that the talks should take place between representatives appointed by you on behalf of the Sri Lanka government and those appointed by us. Your representatives can make clear your views and our representatives can do the same on our behalf. It is talks on this basis between the two sides that will be fruitful. Our problems have today attracted international attention. The international community and our people are today giving their close attention to the Tamil ethnic question. Our people wish and expect to be kept informed of the talks between the two sides and its progress. In this situation, it will not be proper for me to exchange views with you through a private individual in secret." |
At a press conference in Jaffna on Monday the 6th March, Mr. Anton Balasingham referred to the correspondence between the LTTE leader and the Sri Lanka President and said:
| "How did a letter sent to the LTTE leader marked top secret
reach newspaper reporters? Having marked the letter secret, the fact that
the Government themselves are now talking about its contents raises grave
doubts in our mind. How are we to believe what is being said? Furthermore, government connected organisations have spread the false propaganda that the LTTE is opposed to mediation by a foreign country. The fact is that the Liberation Tigers have at no time opposed mediation by an outside country." "However, the Liberation Tigers do not desire mediation by a private individual from a foreign country. President Chandrika Kumaratunga in her letter had wanted to send to the LTTE leader a French diplomat who had served in Haiti and Ethiopia and who had retired from service. Although this private individual was from France, he was not acting on behalf of the French government and therefore we were unable to accept him as a mediator. At the sametime, he was a close friend of the President and his selection as a mediator was controversial. Again, this individual was not known to the Liberation Tigers. In this situation, how can we expect that he will act in a fair way as a mediator? This being the true situation, LTTE leader conveyed the position of the LTTE clearly to President Kumaratunga by his letter of 25th February. But it appears that the Chandrika government seeks to damage the LTTE in the international frame by spreading false information. Hence, we wish to talk directly with the Sri Lanka government. If the talks between us and the Sri Lanka government fail, we will welcome mediation by foreign countries. We are looking forward to the next round of talks. We have always been ready for these talks and we continue to be in a state of readiness for these talks. It is the Sri Lanka government which has not yet fixed the date for the next round of talks. At a time when foreign diplomats are due to visit Jaffna, the Sri Lanka government is trying to tarnish our image in a planned fashion." |
The letter of 20th February to the LTTE leader by President Chandrika Kumaratunga said that she desired to send a representative from a foreign country, in a private capacity, to meet the LTTE leader and that such individual would help the exchange of views between the two sides. It was also said that this individual would not place his own views and would not be acting as a representative of a foreign country but as a private individual. The Sri Lanka President said that although this individual was from France, he would not be acting on behalf of that country.
