Sri Lankan President says talks with rebels meant to end violence

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said Saturday that the main objective of going into talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels next month is to put an end to violence and thereby to prevent people from getting killed.

Addressing the launch of his government's youth assistance program at Weeraketiya, 227 km south of capital Colombo, the President said "the foremost task is to protect people's right to live, freedom to live. That was the main idea in going to Geneva."

He was referring to the decision by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels and the government to hold face-to-face talks in Geneva next month with a view to strengthening the ongoing fragile internationally backed truce.

Rajapakse said that all Sri Lankans must rally around him in the task of endeavoring to achieve peace, adding that he was keen to put an end to all killings in the country.

Over 200 lives have been lost since he assumed Sri Lanka's presidency in mid November 2005. The Tamil Tiger rebels have stepped up attacks against the government troops, killing nearly 100 soldiers. The rebel leader Velupillai Prabakaran warned at the end of November that his force would intensify its struggle for autonomy for the minority Tamils unless Rajapakse came up with a credible plan for power sharing.

The killings prompted the Norwegian peace facilitators to urge both sides for restraint and get back to the negotiating table.

Last Wednesday, Norwegian Minister for International Development Erik Solheim succeeded in ending the deadlock with his meeting with the rebel leader Prabakaran.

The two sides will meet in Geneva in mid-February for the first direct talks since March 2003. The two sides agreed to end violence forthwith in order to create a conducive atmosphere for talks.

Source: Xinhua