Former IB chief in Guwahati to discuss ULFA talks

The Central government-appointed interlocutor for facilitating peace talks with the banned United Liberation Front of Assam P C Haldar, the former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, arrived in Guwahati for a three-day visit on Wednesday.

Official sources in Guwahati said Haldar was in the city to discuss with government agencies besides exploring possibilities for starting negotiation with the ULFA.

Most top-rung leaders including ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa are now lodged in jail. The only top ULFA leader who is at large is the fugitive 'commander-in-chief' of the outfit, Paresh Barua.

The former IB chief is also the interlocutor for the ongoing peace talks with a number of tribal militant groups, who are now under ceasefire with the Government of India.

Many people's groups led by the Assam Jatiya Sanmilan have demanded for a restart of dialogue to find a solution to the three-decade-old insurgency problem in the state.

Meanwhile, seniormost ULFA leader and adviser of the outfit Bhimkanta Buragohain said on Wednesday that there was "no Hitler" in the ULFA, which was keen to settle for a solution through negotiation with the government.

In an apparent reference to Barua, the senior ULFA leader, who was produced in a Tezpur court on Wednesday, said no individual ULFA leader could decide on the issue, as decisions would be taken by the outfit's central committee.

The fugitive ULFA commander-in-chief has opposed dialogue with the government unless the outfit's demand for sovereignty was not included in the agenda.

The outfit has demanded the release of ULFA leaders in jail so that the central committee could meet in a free atmosphere to take a decision about talks with the government.