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Deccan Herald » Foreign » Detailed Story
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LTTE urged to be flexible on aid
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DH News Service Colombo:
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The Norwegian facilitators have urged the Tamil Tiger rebels to be flexible in reaching an agreement with the government of Sri Lanka on disbursing tsunami aid.
According to a local media report, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen had contacted London-based chief negotiator and political advisor of the LTTE Anton Balasingham over the phone on Monday.
Mr Petersen is said to have urged the LTTE to be more flexible on the proposed joint-mechanism with the government of Sri Lanka.
Mr Petersen reportedly explained that no post-tsunami aid would reach Sri Lanka without an accord on the joint-mechanism.
According to the media report, the Norwegian foreign minister had told Mr Balasingham that the Norwegian facilitators have re-drafted the proposal for the joint-mechanism in a bid to bring both the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to an agreement.
“The Norwegian Foreign Minister advised us to completely leave out controversial provisions, if any, in the fresh proposals for the proposed mechanism and come to an agreement early without dragging it,” Mr Balasingham has been quoted as saying.
Responding to the call for flexibility, Mr Balasingham had told the Norwegian Foreign Minister that “the LTTE has done everything possible within their limits to enter into such agreement and was prepared to do so even in the future”.
“I told the Norwegian Foreign Minister that our political wing head, S P Thamilselvan, who is scheduled to return to the Wanni tomorrow after a month-long tour to the European and Scandinavian countries, would come out with firm decisions after consultations with our leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran in this regard,” Mr Balasingham has said.
Norway’s call for flexibility on the part of the LTTE has come at a time when US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca arrived in the island nation on Monday night on a two-day visit.
Today she undertook a visit to the worsening Eastern province to survey American-funded tsunami reconstruction efforts in Kalmunai, worst-hit village in the Eastern coast.
She is scheduled to meet the government and Opposition leaders during her stay in Colombo.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2005
