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The Sri Lankan Presidential Secretariat announced that the United States would not sit with the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at the Sri Lanka Donors Conference in Oslo. The last minute announcement has virtually shocked the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who had already left Colombo for the Oslo conference observers in Colombo said. The United States delegation led by State Department official Richard Armitage would not sit with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam unless the Tamil separatist organization gave a written assurance that it was giving up all kinds of terrorist activities, said the Sri Lankan Presidential Secretariat spokesman. The secretariat said the United States Embassy in Colombo gave this assurance to President Chandrika Kumaratunga in a letter dated November 23 in Colombo. The presidential spokesman said the United States came to this decision since it was illegal for US diplomats to deal with a terrorist organization directly. The People’s Alliance spokesman Dr. Sarath Amunugama a day earlier at a press conference alleged that the Prime minister was attempting to get the LTTE delegates to participate in a “peace support meet” on par with high officials of the USA and UK to jeopardize the status of the LTTE as a terrorist group in those countries. He said the government’s accommodation of the LTTE in Oslo was an attempt by the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration to remove the name of the terrorist group from their banned lists. Meanwhile cabinet minister Milinda Moragoda was in India yesterday trying to persuade Indian leaders to send a political level delegation to the Oslo conference. But speaking to BBC’s Sandeshaya, the Sinhala program, Minister Rauf Hakeem who was also in India said Moragoda’s attempts were reportedly futile. India said it would send its ambassador, Gopalakrishna Gandhi to the Oslo conference but would not deal with the LTTE delegation. Fear was expressed in Colombo in Sri Lanka government quarters that countries like the United Kingdom who was sending its delegation led by Overseas Development Minister Claire Short would follow the US step. (EOM) (24/11/02 go2lanka.com) |