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22-09-2006

PM avoids Tamil MPs seeking 'closest' ties with India

By M.R. Narayan Swamy, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) A group of Sri Lankan MPs sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers Friday failed to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and left for Chennai after seeking "closest contact" with India in order to open a new chapter in relations soured by the 1991 killing of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The five-member Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation led by R. Sampanthan flew out of the capital after the much sought after meeting with Manmohan Singh failed to come off despite several hours of patient waiting during the day. There were indications until late Thursday that a meeting would surely be held.

No reasons were available for the development, which is bound to disappoint the TNA. The TNA, the largest Tamil bloc in the Sri Lankan parliament, supports the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which while being outlawed in India is a key actor in Sri Lanka's tottering peace process.

Asked why they failed to meet Manmohan Singh, TNA MP Mavai Senathirajah told IANS: "This is a sensitive issue. We are not commenting upon it. You may ask the (Indian) foreign ministry." He, however, added that the TNA hoped to meet the Indian prime minister "at a suitable time".

Senathirajah said a memorandum they had wanted to submit to Manmohan Singh had been given to Indian authorities.

According to informed sources, the memorandum, in a clear reference to the assassination of Gandhi by a LTTE woman suicide bomber, offers sincere regrets over "tragic events" and seeks "closest contact" with New Delhi.

It accuses Sri Lanka of committing "genocide" against Tamils, particularly in Trincomalee area, of violating the 2002 Norway-brokered ceasefire and calls upon India to provide direct humanitarian relief to Tamil victims of military operations in the northeast.

The memorandum also thanks New Delhi and the Tamil Nadu government for the assistance provided to the thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils who have fled to Tamil Nadu.

It condemns the Sri Lankan military for showing disregard for civilians and alleges that "a foreign power" (a clear hint at Pakistan) has collaborated with Sri Lankan forces to carry out attacks against Tamil civilians.

Sri Lanka watchers believe the memorandum reflects the thinking of the LTTE, which is facing serious military setbacks presently at the hands of the military that has captured the strategic eastern town of Sampoor from the Tigers.

Although the TNA MPs could not meet the prime minister, or for that matter Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi before coming here, they got to interact with National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan here Thursday for almost 40 minutes and Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed a day earlier.

The MPs - who also included G. Ponnambalam, K. Premachandran and A. Selvam - also exchanged view with officials as well as politicians both in New Delhi and Chennai.

While Narayanan gave them delegation a patient hearing, others in the establishment conveyed to the MPs the firm Indian opposition to the politics of violence and assassinations blamed on the LTTE.

India supports the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka but wants Colombo to go for serious power sharing with the Tamil community in order to end the dragging ethnic conflict that has claimed over 65,000 lives since 1983

The TNA delegation - again reflecting the LTTE's thinking - conveyed the message that the international community's pledge to help Sri Lanka maintain its unity is one reason Colombo is not ready to make meaningful concessions to the Tamils.

A sixth TNA MP, M.K. Shivaji Lingam, was also in New Delhi since Tuesday. He, too, left for Chennai Friday but separately.

Source-Indo-Asian News Service