New
World Vision programme in Chad to mitigate child war trauma
|
|
Armitage fears S.Lanka peace chance
slipping away
03 Nov 2004 11:14:33
GMT
Source:
Reuters
| COLOMBO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - U.S.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on Wednesday he
feared a chance to forge peace between Sri Lanka and the Tamil
Tigers could be slipping away, and called on the rebels to renounce
violence for good.
Armitage, who was pivotal in rallying international support
for $4.5 billion in donor aid pledged to Sri Lanka last year, is due
to visit the Indian Ocean island briefly next week on a regional
tour.
"I worry that a unique opportunity to reach a peaceful and
permanent settlement might be slipping away," Armitage said in a
video message aired by the U.S. Embassy in Colombo at a breakfast to
mark the U.S. presidential election.
The United States has placed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE), whose bloody two-decade war for autonomy killed more
than 64,000 people and drove hundreds of thousands more from their
homes, on a list of terrorist groups that includes al Qaeda.
"Once again I call upon the LTTE to renounce terror and to
return to the negotiating table," Armitage said.
The Sri Lankan government and the Tigers agreed to a
ceasefire in 2002 but peace talks stalled last year, leaving efforts
to convert the truce into permanent peace in limbo.
The two sides are deadlocked over the rebels' central demand
for interim self rule in vast tracts of the war-torn north and east
that they control, and analysts say the impasse will likely stretch
on for months.
|
| |
Reset