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Sri Lankan team suggests changes to ceasefire pact
The government delegation is set to suggest amendments to the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) at the renewed peace negotiations with Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) commencing on Wednesday.
- By Sinha Ratnatunga, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 February 20, 2006
Colombo: The government delegation is set to suggest amendments to the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) at the renewed peace negotiations with Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) commencing on Wednesday.
The amendments are reported to have been drafted by a legal team headed by President's Counsel H.L. de Silva in consultation with the security forces, the Sunday Leader newspaper reported.
The amendments are being proposed keeping with a pledge by President Mahinda Rajapakse during the presidential election campaign that the Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) signed in 2002 with the LTTE would be reviewed and strengthened.
Government members have said that the CFA signed by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was disadvantageous and that the disadvantages to the government and the security forces should be removed.
However, Tamil rebels have been calling for the full implementation of the CFA, without changes.
The pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has been among those insisting that the full implementation of the CFA would be required to restore normalcy in the country.
"Even the United Nations and the entire international community have accepted the fact that the CFA should be fully implemented. If that's the position of the international community, why shouldn't the government accept that position?" TNA MP Mavai Senathiraja told Gulf News.
He said the implementation would be LTTE's key demand at the peace talks.
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