"This report examines in detail the current developments in the peace process in Sri Lanka, outlines some of the continuing problems that may de-stabilise the process and considers the impact of refugee returns to the country...."

"The JVP yesterday held a mass protest rally against the ceasefire agreement between the government and the LTTE claiming it was an agreement of submission, and had betrayed the interest of the country..."

"In a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, President Kumaratunga reiterated her complaint that she was not properly consulted before Wickremesinghe committed the Colombo government to a truce accord signed by Tamil Tigers (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran..."

"...Under this Agreement the free movement of armed cadres of the LTTE is limited to the areas presently dominated by the LTTE. Outside these areas, the LTTE members have to be unarmed and are to be governed by the Agreement. While the Sri Lanka Government is responsible for the civil administration throughout the country, we have no control over law and order on significant portions of land in the North and East. The armed units of the LTTE dominate these areas. The armed forces have so far been unable to regain control. We all know this is the reality but we do not want to speak about it. We have been fooling the people and in the process we have fooled ourselves..."

"Who has won the two decade-long wars in Sri Lanka? The Tigers or the Sinhalese? Neither! It is the US... that has descended on their warring prey to establish a mini military presence on this strategic island, through their Norwegian representatives. Oslo played a similar role in the Israeli�Palestinian negotiations, acting as the hatchet man of the US.... The LTTE have not got Eelam, nor have the Sri Lankans got full control of the Northeast. No political settlement is taking place, only a mere adhoc ceasefire arrangement, with an �interim administration� of a semi-permanent nature, that will leave scope for continuous conflict... One only hopes that the LTTE does not go the KLA (Kosovo) way... At present they are demanding an �interim administration� for the entire North-East, within the Sri Lankan Union and have kept their fire-power in tact, unable to trust the Buddhist chauvinists, who dominate Sri Lankan ruling-class politics. It is to be seen whether they are able to assert the same type of independence from the US and the Indian ruling-classes. The US strategy is to get the LTTE into prolonged negotiations, and a lengthy ceasefire, which destroys their fighting capacity and gradually pulls them into the �mainstream�. A method successfully adopted with the Nagas and numerous national liberation movements (and also Marxist movements) over the world..."

"The weaker can overcome the stronger. Because of the 'human factor�, that is the will to resist, seeking new and ingenious ways to fight injustice, to be relentless in energy and hope. It is human beings who make history and not the other way round. We must make use of all political means at our disposal - the power to think, plan,write and organize. No one is exempt from some obligation to our emancipation. In all seriousness we must first rely on ourselves and we must do that with a full commitment to success. We need to ask what it is that we can do, then by an act of collective will we must do it. It is slow and hard work but it is doable and achievable in the best sense. .."

"...Despite the initial optimism generated by the possibility of co-operation to achieve peace, the increasing acrimony between the UNF and the opposition People�s Alliance (PA) has the potential of destabilising the whole process.."

".... The lack of a genuine bi-partisan commitment and approach by the (Sinhala) political establishment represented mainly by the two major parties, the UNP and the SLFP has been the single-most important obstacle in achieving a negotiated political settlement. This is accounted for by the longstanding struggle for power by both parties...."

"A misplaced trust in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its ruthless leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, has led the Sri Lankan Cabinet to concede a key pre-condition set by this terrorist outfit that it be de-proscribed ahead of talks that will begin from September 16..."