Colombo makes fresh offer to end impasse
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe offered an interim administrative structure to Tamil Tiger rebels Monday in a bid to end the impasse in the island's Norwegian-backed peace process.
Addressing a crucial international donors' conference here, Wickremesinghe said his government was prepared to set up an "innovative provisional administrative structure" for the South Asian nation's embattled areas.
Tamil Tiger rebels, boycotting the aid conference here, have insisted on a administrative mechanism that grants them greater political and financial authority in exchange for ending their suspension of peace negotiations.
"It is now important that we develop a roadmap with milestones to get there," Wickremesinghe said as the conference opened with promises of one up to 2.3 billion dollars in aid over four years from Japan, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Union, and the United States.
"In this context we would need to set up an innovative provisional administrative structure.
"It will be responsible for the reconstruction and development of the north east and the administrative aspects of the transitional process."
There was no immediate reaction in Sri Lanka from the Tamil Tigers to the latest offer from Wickremesinghe to end the impasse in the peace process.
The Tiger rebels suspended their participation in peace talks in April after accusing the government of slow delivery on promises made to them at six rounds of talks.
The premier admitted before international donors here Monday that the implementation of reconstruction and rehabilitation work had been painfully slow.
"The actions of the LTTE in the past few weeks has demonstrated what we too were realising," Wickremesinghe said.
"It was clear that the structures we had put in place were too cumbersome and too distant from the people to be acceptable or to react quickly enough. The people needed a much faster response than the government was able to deliver."
The Tigers said a sub-committee appointed by peace negotiators from both sides failed to carry out any significant projects in war-ravaged areas and they wanted an interim administrative body to speed up work.
A "needs assessment" for the embattled regions had been prepared with the help of the UN, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and was endorsed by both the Colombo government and the Tamil Tigers, the premier said.
He said delivery will also be implemented through a partnership of the government and the LTTE.
The premier said more political work needed to be done and insisted differences between his administration and the Tamil Tigers over a provisional administrative structure for war-ravaged areas was not far apart.
The new administrative structure, which must conform to existing Sri Lankan federal law, would provide for a significant role for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), allow transparency and safeguard the interests of all communities on the island, Wickremesinghe said.
He also urged the international community to identify ways to help underpin the peace process, given the level of mistrust between the government and the Tigers.
Meanwhile, International donors on Monday pledged up to 2.3 billion dollars in aid over four years to help rebuild Sri Lanka in exchange for the steady progress towards peace in the war-ravaged nation.
Some 50 governments and multilateral agencies attending the crucial two-day conference are asking the Colombo government and rebels to immediately develop a peace plan "with clear milestones indicating the path towards a mutually acceptable final political solution," according to a draft declaration seen by AFP.
The Tokyo conference will link foreign aid to progress in the peace process, seeking an end to the three decades of ethnic fighting that has killed an estimated 65,000 people and displaced 800,000 others.
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