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Tokyo participation will depend on govt response - Thamilselvan

by Ranga Jayasuriya

LTTE political chief S.P. Thamilselvam said yesterday that the Tigers will take part in the Tokyo aid parley only if the Government responds to its proposal for a North-East interim administration is "concrete, trustworthy and honest".

"The international community will realize that it is not possible to restore normalcy in the North East without establishing an interim administration in the region," he told a press conference held the LTTE peace secretariat.

Thamilselvan said no improvement in the lives in the North East had been achieved during the 14 months of ceasefire agreement and the Sub Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Reconstruction needs (SIHRN) had failed to redress the hardships of the civilians.

He said the government should reach a definite agreement on a North-East interim administration which can handle reconstruction and rehabilitation before the Tokyo donor conference scheduled for June 9 and 10.

Thamilselvan's comment came a day after LTTE chief peace negotiator Anton Balasingham was to write to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe calling for his response to an LTTE proposal for an interim administration in the North-East.

Claiming that SIHRN had failed to function effectively, Balasingham said in his letter to the Prime Minister said, under these "frustrating circumstances", the LTTE leadership had suggested a "new innovative structure for the North-East with adequate authority and legal status for the rapid implementation of humanitarian and development activities".

Balasingham pointed to an interim administrative set up proposed by the Indian government following the Indo-Sri Lanka pact in 1989.

"In view of the up-coming Donors conference in Japan, the LTTE leadership is of the view that an efficient, radically new administrative mechanism should be instituted immediately, with out delay, with wide powers to expedite the resettlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the North-East," Balasingham said in the letter.

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