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Independence day address Chandrika again invites LTTE for peace talks

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Friday urged her would-be assassins, the Tamil Tiger rebels, to enter talks and end decades of fighting that has claimed the lives of over 55,000 people.

Kumaratunga, in an address marking the country's 52nd anniversary of independence from Britain, said she was inviting the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to join a peace process.

"The LTTE has a vital role to play in concluding this extended sadness for the Tamil people.

"The LTTE must also recognise that assassinating (majority) Sinhala and (minority) Tamil leaders and innocent citizens can never resolve the problems of the Tamil people or the minorities," she said.

Kumaratunga, who lost the use of one eye in a suicide bomb attack at an election rally in December, stayed away from the main public anniversary ceremony and instead addressed the nation from her tightly-guarded Temple Trees residence.

She asked the parliamentary opposition to support her but made no reference to an offer of cooperation by the main opposition United National Party (UNP) to back her radical devolution proposals.

The devolution plan was first unveiled in August 1995 but has remained in limbo because her party lacked the mandatory two thirds majority in parliament to turn it into law.

However, last month the UNP made a U-turn and promised support for the plan which seeks to turn the country into a de facto federal state in all but name.

"It is urgent that we end the heartless violence of terror and its result - the war," Kumaratunga said.

"All those who support the perpetrators of terror must even now decide to persuade them to adopt the strategies of dialogue and negotiations."

The president voiced optimism about bringing peace to a country hit by seemingly unending ethnic strife.

"I firmly believe that we are finally on track to solve the ethnic problem in a durable manner," she said. "I say with confidence that we the government and people of Sri Lanka have at this time, the power, and finally, the collective will, to bring into reality our desire for a negotiated peace."

The president announced in December that she was seeking the help of Norway to bring the LTTE to the negotiating table.

Kumaratunga came to power in 1994 promising peace, and opened talks with the LTTE which maintained a temporary truce for 100 days before pulling out in April 1995. Both sides blamed each other for the breakdown.

There has been no reaction from the LTTE to her latest peace overtures. AFP