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Perumal wants Indian intercession in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's most protected Tamil leader and former chief minister of the north-east provincial council Varadaraja Perumal has sought India's help to bring peace and unity to the island while totally rejecting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's demand for a separate nation.

''I don't see the possibility of an Eelam or separation as demanded by the LTTE,'' Perumal -- who once proclaimed Tamil independence in 1999 in Jaffna and fled to India -- said after admitting that he had become ''more refined and tolerant'' during his long exile.

Speaking to the Colombo-based foreign journalists for the first time since his return to Sri Lanka after nine years of self-exile in India, Perumal said he and other Tamils in general were opposed to the principle of a separate nation. At the same time, he favoured talks with the LTTE and finding a solution to the current ethnic problem through the devolution of power. He agreed that the current conflict can't be solved militarily.

''If the government decided to solve it militarily, the problem will again surface more violently. In this context India, as an immediate neighbour has a role,'' he said. ''I call upon Indian leaders, including Tamil leaders, to help us develop peace and unity in the country. I also urge the international community to work for peace in Sri Lanka,'' Perumal, who surfaced for the first time after years of hiding, added.

Perumal, the leader of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Front, is one of the main targets of the LTTE and is being given maximum protection by the government.

Asked about the lack of unity among the Tamil parties, Perumal said ''it is quite natural. Each one has its own views and they are free to express them.'' He said he had no difference of opinion with his party leadership, referring to party secretary-general Suresh Premachandran. Unfortunately, Tamils do not have a proper political environment and his first priority was to develop such an environment, he said.

UNI

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