Lanka to appoint All-Party Committee to draw political solution

Colombo, June 2: The government took the decision to appoint the committee at an All-Party Conference (APC), chaired by President Mahinda Rajapakse here at the Temple Trees today, in which members of all political parties, except the four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA), participated.

''At the meeting, President Rajapakse pointed out that coming out with a viable political solution cannot be postponed anymore, mainly in the light of the European Union (EU) ban on the Tamil Tigers,'' a top Presidential source told UNI.

Subsequently, the APC today resolved to work out a political solution to end the war. It was agreed at the meeting to appoint All-Party Committee to work out a framework for a political solution.

Once it is done, the draft would be placed before the LTTE and the people as a viable solution, he added.

According the source, an additional advisory board, comprising legal, political and constitutional experts, is also to be appointed in consultation with the political parties to work in concurrent with the All Party Committee to arrive at a reasonable solution.

At the APC today, the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which strongly supported President Rajapakse during the presidential election and helped him to win, has insisted that ''the first condition for any future peace talks with LTTE would be that the LTTE should lay down their deadly weapons''.

Leader of the JVP, Somawansa Amarasinghe, has requested President Rajapakse at the meeting that the government should necessarily take over the child soldiers of the LTTE and assure them a better future, providing education, higher education, vocational training and the employment opportunities.

UNI