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Sri Lanka rejects Tigers' offer for 'negotiations'
Sri Lanka's defence secretary has rejected the Tamil Tigers' offer to enter a democratic process after their military defeat by government forces.
The rebels had said they would give up violence after their leader was killed in recent fighting in the north-east. "I am not interested in LTTE at all," the defence secretary - the most senior civilian official in charge of the war against the Tamil Tigers - told the BBC in a wide-ranging telephone interview. He said there were "enough democratic Tamil political parties in the country" to represent the Tamil minority. On Sunday, speaking to the BBC's Tamil service, senior rebel spokesman Selvarasa Pathmanathan said they would now use non-violent methods to fight for the rights of the Tamils and had agreed to enter a democratic process to achieve their aims. Mr Rajapaksa also said the work of government forces was not yet over as they had to recover weapons hidden by the LTTE in the northern and eastern regions. "Some people think that the army's task is over... it is not. The entire area has to be de-mined and then we have to look for any remnants of the LTTE hiding in the jungles," Mr Rajapaksa said. He has also appealed to Western nations to dismantle the LTTE's overseas network and hand over their local leaders, who he said were trying to purchase arms and ammunition for the group. On reports of intrusive checks against Tamils in the capital Colombo in recent weeks, Mr Rajapaksa said the Tamil community was not being singled out. He said everyone - including government officials and politicians - was being stopped at checkpoints for security reasons. "It is not our aim to continue with these security procedures. These checks will be eased once normality gradually returns to the country," he said. Most of the senior leadership of the Tamil Tigers is thought to have been killed in fighting with government forces in recent weeks.
Posted by: Steve White 2009-05-26 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=270520 |