Tamil party backs end to ban on Sri Lanka rebels

Tamil rebels are fighting for an independent homeland in Sri Lanka's north and east

In this story: Tough conditions Long path to peace RELATED STORIES

By staff and wire reports

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka's mainstream Tamil political party has joined calls for the government to lift a ban on Tamil Tiger rebels.

Amid fresh efforts to end nearly two decades of ethnic war, a key official of the Tamil United Liberation Front -- the main Tamil party -- said it was reasonable for the Tamil Tigers to seek to negotiate as equals.

The official said failure to lift the ban on the guerrillas could lead to the collapse of a protracted, Norwegian-backed peace process.

"It is quite a reasonable demand. They want to hold negotiations as equals, not as subordinates to the government," said Veerasingham Anandasangaree, secretary of the Tamil United Liberation Front.

"If these conditions are not accepted, we are certain the talks will not begin."

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar recently said a date for fresh peace talks would be set before the end of the month.

Tough conditions

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set tough conditions at the weekend for peace talks, including a demand that President Chandrika Kumaratunga legitimize the group, which was banned in January 1998.

The demand came a day after Sri Lanka cleared a key hurdle in the peace process, with a senior Tamil Tiger leader meeting Norwegian Ambassador Jon Westborg to discuss the upcoming peace negotiations.

Westborg was reported to have spent the night behind rebel lines, meeting with the LTTE's reclusive leader, Velupillai Prabakaran.

Tamil guerrillas have been fighting for an independent homeland in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983, claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese.

Some reports say more than 63,000 people have been killed as a result of fighting between the government and the Tamils.

Long path to peace

Norway has been trying to broker a peace for two years. The last round of talks broke down in 1995 after the rebels allegedly reneged on a truce. The government has rejected any conditions for talks, but both sides have recently taken confidence-building measures.

Sri Lanka, India, the United States, Malaysia and Britain have outlawed the LTTE.

The Norwegian Embassy in Colombo issued a statement confirming Westborg's visit, and saying that some of the LTTE's questions were clarified but that concerns remained.

There was no immediate government reaction to the LTTE's statement.

Political analysts backed Anandasangaree's call for lifting the ban.

Jehan Perera, head of the National Peace Council, an independent think tank, said the government should either lift the ban or suspend it during talks, and reimpose it if the rebels back out.

"It would be a powerful statement by the government and would make it difficult for the LTTE to jump out of talks," he said.

Heavy fighting in Sri Lanka's Jaffna Peninsula

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