Tamil Tiger ban 'must stay'

By Frances Harrison in Colombo

The Sri Lankan Government has said it categorically rejects the idea of lifting the ban on Tamil Tiger rebels as a precondition for peace talks.

In a rare statement of its position on the Norwegian-mediated peace process, the Sri Lankan Government suggests they were close to agreement last month, until the rebels began insisting that the ban on their organisation be removed.

The government says the Tamil Tigers are simply placing one obstacle after another in the way of the peace process.

In a six-page statement, the government justifies the ban on the rebel outfit, listing some of the bomb blasts and assassinations which it has carried out over the past two decades.

'Falsely' labelled

According to the government, the Tigers insistence on being legalised before talks only exposes their unreasonableness and their lack of seriousness about peace.

In their last statement, a week ago, the Tamil Tigers denied that they were deliberately procrastinating but said lifting the ban was a necessary step before talks.

The Tigers complained that they had been falsely labelled as terrorists. Instead they described themselves as a liberation movement with a conventional army and a mass of territory under their administrative control.

Nearly two years of Norwegian mediation in the Sri Lankan conflict have yet to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table.

Both sides are now keen to blame the other for the impasse, but neither is willing to abandon the peace process yet.