Sri Lankan govt and Tamils prepare for peace talks
Sri Lankan government leaders and Tamil rebels made initial contact today at a secluded chateau outside Geneva, Switzerland, before their first direct talks in nearly three years, hoping to shore up a ragged ceasefire agreement and move peace talks back on track.
A Sri Lankan spokesman indicated the government delegation would seek to fix what he called “flaws” in the four-year-old ceasefire agreement, and move the talks beyond the truce to issues of “lasting peace.”
“We are seeking a formula for peace in Sri Lanka,” said Rohitha Bogollagama, a senior minister speaking to reporters at Nyon, outside Geneva.
The Norwegian government persuaded the government and rebels of the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam to meet after an upsurge in violence in December and January that killed about 150 people, including more than 80 Sri Lankan military personnel.
The sides lunched together at the Chateau de Bossey, the talks’ venue outside Geneva under snow-dusted mountains, before starting two days of meetings tomorrow – the first since the LTTE abandoned peace negotiations in 2003.
In the first move toward amending the truce, Bogollagama said the Norwegian commander of the 60-member truce monitoring team would step aside in favour of a Swede.
The government had objected to the Norwegians acting as both peace mediators and head of the truce monitors, drawn from the Nordic countries.
In Sri Lanka, religious leaders in Jaffna in the troubled north of the Indian Ocean island, prayed for success at Geneva in patching up the tattered ceasefire. In a rare show of ecumenism, Hindu, Christian and Muslim clergy led the prayers in a public hall, which were to continue until the talks conclude.
“We pray that the negotiators participate in talks with honesty to alleviate the hardships faced by the people,” said Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, the Catholic bishop for Jaffna, the historic capital of the Tamil people.
“The people are fearful. Children are unable to go to school and fisherman can’t go to the sea,” he said. “It is divine help that has led to these talks under this climate.”
Tamil rebels have been fighting since 1983 for independence or a Tamil homeland in the north and east of the country, where the minority Tamil population is concentrated. The war killed 65,000 people the ceasefire was signed in 2002.
The first task of the talks will be to strengthen the truce. The government accuses the rebels of targeting troops with anti-personnel mines, and the rebels say the government is supporting a breakaway rebel faction in the east responsible for harassing and killing Tamil civilians.
The rebel movement split in 2004 when an eastern-based military commander named Karuna broke away with 6,000 fighters. The rebellion was suppressed by the mainstream rebels, but Karuna and several other leaders managed to escape and are known to operate in eastern Sri Lanka.
Just agreeing to talk has helped to reduce the number of Sri Lankans fleeing their homes in fear, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres. UNHCR said some 6,000 families have been displaced by fighting in Sri Lanka since mid-December.
“We have seen the number of Sri Lankans fleeing regional insecurity, both internally and to India, diminish in the weeks leading up to the Geneva talks,” Guterres said in a statement.
He attributed the decline in part to “the high expectations of those living in the conflict-affected areas for the upcoming peace talks.”
