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Lanka PM rules out talks with LTTE

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremananyake Wednesday ruled out the possibility of the government entering into talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and vowed to eliminate terrorism from the country by defeating the Tigers militarily.

''The stage to talk to the LTTE is over. Our priority now is to eliminate the Tigers by defeating them militarily,'' the prime minister told a hurriedly-called press conference.

A Sinhala hardliner, Wickremenayake had stated earlier that the constitution, aimed at devolving more powers to the ethic minority Tamils, lapsed after parliament's term was over last month.

The government had introduced the constitution in parliament on August 3, but it was not pursued, as a two-thirds majority to pass the legislation could not be achieved.

The prime minister's assertion is a contradiction to what President Chandrika Kumaratunga had stated immediately after winning a second term last December, that she would strive for achieving peace by talking to the LTTE and by introducing a new constitution.

At the press conference, the prime minister distributed a copy of the annexure of the memorandum of understanding allegedly reached between the LTTE and the opposition United National Party. He challenged the opposition to publicly deny that it has any connections with the terrorists.

The prime minister said the government was investigating how such an agreement was reached between the LTTE and UNP.

UNI

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