Lankan parties give 'go ahead' for talks with LTTE

Colombo, Mar 6: Sri Lankan political parties today (Mar 6, 2006) resolved to support President Mahinda Rajapakse in continuing the Norwegian-brokered peace talks with Tamil tiger rebels to find a lasting political solution for the ethnic conflict.

About 14 political parties except the four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) took part at the all important All Party Conference at the Presidential Secretariat here in Colombo today amid tight security.

''President Rajapakse explained the political parties the outcome of the Geneva talks with the LTTE last month. The meeting that lasted for three hours ended successfully with the parties giving a 'go ahead' to the President to continue talks with the LTTE,'' a top Presidential aide Chandrapala Liyanage told UNI over phone.

According to sources although the radical JVP and JHU had expressed their displeasure over the joint statement at the Geneva talks, they too have agreed to continue the current talks with the LTTE.

The all party conference has taken place at a time when the government and the LTTE are accusing each other of misinterpreting the Geneva joint statement in which the LTTE had agreed to stop violence against the Government forces while the Government has given the undertaking to control activities of all armed groups.

Next round of talks is scheduled to be held from April 19 to 21 in Geneva.

Meanwhile the JVP in a statement issued after the all party conference has said ''while continuing dialogue with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Government should also ramp up its strengthening and training of the armed forces so that the LTTE will realize that going to war is not an option''.

UNI