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WORLD BANK APPLYING PRESSURE TELLS LTTE TO ENTER PEACE TALKS IMMEDIATELY OR LOSE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN AID
World Bank representative Peter Harrold meeting Thamilselvan In Kilinochchi
(Photo by: TamilNet)
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
June 02, 10.00 PM: The World Bank applied tremendous pressure on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to immediately start the stalled peace negotiations with the Sri Lanka government or to lose millions of dollars the international aid donors were ready to pump in to re-build the war-torn economy of the North and the East . In a meeting with LTTE’s S. P. Thamilselvan, June 1, the World Bank representative in Sri Lanka told the political head of the rebel group that it was imperative the Tamil Tigers start peace negotiations for the world bank to grant aid for the war torn areas.
The World Bank representative Peter Harrold’s mission to Kilinochchi to meet Thamilselvan coincided with a statement issued in Brussels by the co-chairmen of the Tokyo Summit to aid Sri Lanka, USA, Japan, European Union and Norway that they were warning that the funds allocated for Sri Lanka for the peace process could be diverted to other needy applicants of aid if peace negotiations were not started between the LTTE and the Sri Lanka government.
The peace process has been stalled by LTTE’s insistence that before any negotiations the government should install the interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) that gives the full control of the administrative power of the country’s Northern and Eastern Provinces to the LTTE. The present government headed by President Kumaratunga was elected on a mandate not to grant such an authority to the LTTE. Constitutional experts also have pointed out that establishing such an authority was a total impossibility under the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
The World Bank representative told Thamilselvan, that after negotiations with the Sri Lanka government both parties should come to an agreement about an administrative machinery to handle funds granted as aid.
Thamilselvan told Peter Harrold that people of the North East were going through tremendous difficulties due to the war-torn condition of the provinces and the World bank should honor the people’s wish of establishing an Interim Self Governing Authority to handle the aid money.
Peter Harrold told Thamilselvan that to start peace negotiations was a pre-condition to grant any aid by the World Bank. He told the LTTE leader that the World Bank was bound to respect the economic policy of the Sri Lanka government in giving aid.
He said it was left to the LTTE to obtain agreeable administrative machinery from the Sri Lanka government to handle the funds supplied as aid. He admitted such a machinery was not available currently and said an agreeable machinery to handle money should be reached at the peace negotiations.
Sri Lanka News, update throughout the day....