Chandrika seeks nominee at talks

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has sought the inclusion of her nominee in the delegation heading for talks between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Thailand later this month.

Kumaratunga's spokesman Hareem Peiris yesterday said the request to permit one of the President's nominees at the peace talks has been conveyed to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Front (UNF) government and they were awaiting a response.

"Our request has been conveyed to the government very recently... we hope this could be done through consensus," Peiris said, adding that the president welcomed the start of the talks.

However, the president has been sending conflicting signals on the peace process, insisting that the government resist the rebels' main demand that the ban on them be lifted before the start of talks.

"We don't want to be an obstacle to the talks," Peiris said, even after the president warned on Monday that there were legal avenues open to her in case the government went against her wishes and legalised the Tigers.

Peiris had earlier said that the president did not mind the ban on the LTTE being lifted after firm dates were finalised to start peace talks.

However, yesterday he backtracked on that position saying he had been merely "raising the question" on the ban and that the president wanted it lifted based on the progress of the talks.

He said the Tigers should not be "dogmatic" and agree to come for talks without insisting on removing the ban. "We are not dogmatic and we are not standing in the way of talks," Peiris said.

It was not immediately clear whether the guerrillas would agree for the President's nominee to be present at the talks.

The disclosure came as Sri Lanka's Muslim leader Rauff Hakeem on Tuesday won his demand to take part in the talks in Thailand commencing on September 16.

Hakeem, the leader of the Muslim Congress (SLMC) and minister of ports and shipping in the Colombo government, obtained the approval of the chief negotiator of the rebel group, Anton Balasingham, to be at the talks during discussions in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.

An official communique issued by the Norwegian foreign ministry stated that Hakeem would be participating "as the head of a Muslim delegation representing the Muslim community", tacit recognition by the rebels for the 43-year-old lawyer who is fighting to be the sole representative of the Muslims in Sri Lanka.