US urges to resume peace talks in Sri Lanka

Washington, Nov 29 (UNI) The United States has expressed concern at reports which suggest that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran considers the 2002 cease-fire agreement with the government of Sri Lanka to be defunct.

''We condemn the Tamil Tigers for fueling violence and hostility,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday, pressing, ''both sides, the government as well as the Tigers, to honour the cease-fire agreement and return to a dialogue that will move the nation toward peace.'' He said, ''Violence and terrorism do nothing to advance the resolution of the conflict.'' In recent months, clashes between government forces and LTTE rebels in northern and eastern Sri Lanka have killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands more.

In a November 27 speech, LTTE leader Prabhakaran blamed Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for the recent surge in violence, which he said had rendered the 2002 cease-fire agreement 'defunct'.

''We were disturbed by those reports,'' McCormack said. ''The 2002 cease-fire agreement is the foundation on which both the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers can find mutual understanding and build sustainable peace.'' McCormack recalled that the United States on November 23, hosted a meeting of the co-chairs of the 2003 Tokyo Donors' Conference on Sri Lanka. The contact group, comprised representatives from Japan, Norway, the European Union and the United States, met to discuss the deteriorating security situation and issued a statement condemning "continued and systematic cease-fire violations by both government and separatist forces.

''The Tigers can choose to return to the peace process and should do so for the benefit of the Sri Lankan people,'' McCormack said.

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