Home > Struggle for Tamil Eelam > Sri Lanka's Broken Pacts & Evasive Proposals > Chandrika - LTTE Talks: 1994/95 >Letter from LTTE Leader  to Sri Lanka President, 6 April 1995

Chandrika - LTTE Talks: 1994/95 

Letter from LTTE Leader
to Sri Lanka President

6 April 1995

Dear President,

Thank you for your letter dated 1st April 1995, which we received on the 2nd April 1995 through the good offices of the ICRC delegation in Jaffna.

The Government peace delegation is welcome to Jaffna on the 10th April 1995. Please inform us of the names of the delegates who will be participating in the talks.

We wish to state that in the fourth round of negotiations our agenda will be specifically confined to discussions on the modalities of implementation of your positive decisions and also about the two crucial, issues we raised in our letter dated 28th March 1995.

Our agenda is consistent with your letter of 24th March 1995 in which you have stated that you have arrived at positive decisions on issues raised by us, i.e. lifting of the embargo on fuel and removing all restrictions on fishing. You have also suggested that a dialogue between us is essential for the effective implementation of your decisions.

In my letter of 28th March 1995, I have emphasised the critical importance of opening a passage to Jaffna by removing the army camp at Pooneryn and the free mobility of our armed cadres in the Eastern province. These issues, along with your decisions will constitute the topics for discussions.

You will appreciate that we have extended our deadline from 28th March 1995 to 19th April 1995 to give your Government a space of time to ensure the implementation of your decisions and to resolve other issues that are vital for the consolidation of the conditions of peace and for the normalisation of civilian life in Tamil areas.

You are fully aware that for the last six months, ever since the negotiating process began, we have been emphasising the utmost importance of resolving the most urgent and immediate problems faced by the people. We have been consistently arguing that the resolution of these issues in the early stages of the dialogue would facilitate and promote discussions on fundamental issues underlying the national conflict.

Since your Government has shown little or no interest in resolving.. these issues and dragged its feet, we were compelled to set deadlines since we felt that the peace talks were stalemated and failed to serve any meaningful purpose. As I have explained in my latest communication, we, as a negotiating party, reserve the right to set a deadline for the termination of the peace talks if we are of the opinion that the negotiations have become futile, non-productive and have failed to serve the interests of our people.

Since you have made conciliatory gestures on certain issues, we have extended our deadline to 19th April, with the anticipation that you will take immediate steps to implement your decisions and resolve other outstanding issues without delay. Therefore, we insist that the fourth round of talks would appertain to these matters. i.e working out modalities for implementing decisions made by you and resolving the two issues we raised. We hope that the process of implementation of your decisions and the solution of the other matters will take place before the 19th April 1995.

Furthermore, we wish to reiterate that the day to day problems of our people are of paramount importance and need immediate and urgent solutions without further delay and resolution of these problems should be a prelude to political discussions on basic issues underlying the ethnic conflict.

Our position has been that the creation of the conditions of normalcy by removing all restrictions, bans, sanctions, blockades and the stabilisation of the conditions of peace by working out an effective cease fire are of utmost importance before proceeding to the advanced stage of dialogue on the fundamental political issues. Therefore, we are not favourably disposed to the suggestion of working out time-frames and procedures for political discourse at this conjuncture.

With best wishes
Yours Sincerely
(V.Pirabaharan)
Leader
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

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