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EPRLF calls for Indian mediation in Lankan ethnic crisis

A Sri Lankan Tamil group said India had a ''moral obligation'' to bring about a durable solution to the island's ethnic conflict and appealed to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to take up the issue with Colombo during next week's SSARC summit.

''We strongly believe the Indian nation has a moral obligation to involve and achieve a just and durable solution that satisfies the aspirations of Tamils,'' Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front secretary general K Premachandran said.

''Therefore, we would like to request the prime minister of India to take up the issue of the Sri Lankan Tamils in his bilateral talks with the Sri Lankan government,'' he said in a statement.

With this in view, the EPRLF was organising prayer meetings at temples, churches, mosques and schools in the troubled north-east to coincide with the start of the summit on Wednesday, he added.

The EPRLF and several other Tamil parties have sought appointment with Vajpayee during his visit to Colombo.

Pressing the case for Indian mediation, Premachandran said, ''The present state of affairs is a clear illustration of the fact that the Sri Lankan polity, Sinhala or Tamil, do not have the inner strength, courage and political will to evolve a solution on their own.''

UNI

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