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Political parties in Sri Lanka were mixed in their reactions yesterday, following Britain's ban on the LTTE. Most political parties were pleased with the step taken by the British Government. The United National Party (UNP) welcomed the decision made by the UK Home Secretary Jack Straw and welcomed the efforts taken by other foreign Governments to counter terrorism worldwide. S. L. Gunasekara, the President of the Sinhala Jathika Sangamaya said that Britain has acted to preserve peace and justice in Sri Lanka by banning the LTTE. "We also hope that other European countries especially countries like Norway and Sweden will take Britain as an example and proscribe the LTTE in their own countries". Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) spokesman and the Colombo District parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa also commended Britain’s decision saying that the LTTE should be proscribed not only in Britain but in all European Union countries. Thilak Karunaratne, the General Secretary of the Sihala Urumaya said that there was a need to exercise continuous pressure on the British Government as the legislation was still at a stage where it has been submitted to parliament. The Sihala Urumaya recently claimed that they would go to courts if the British Government failed to ban the LTTE. Sri Lanka's moderate Tamil party, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) said it was unfortunate that the law came into effect, but hoped it will not affect the peace process. "The LTTE should not regard this as a loss of face because if they pursue the peace effort, the British government might consider revoking it," TULF leader R. Sampanthan said. "I don't expect the banning to hinder the peace process," Sampanthan said. "If the LTTE really wants to pursue peace, it can go ahead even with the ban." Defence ministry spokesman Sanath Karunaratne welcoming Britain's decision said "We most certainly welcome the decision of the British government and hope that they will take it to its logical conclusion." Meanwhile, Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said the British Government 's decision to include the LTTE in a list of 21 "foreign terrorist organisations" was mainly done with the objective of preventing terrorist bombings abroad. "No world leader is safe with the kind of suicide bombing capability that is with the LTTE," Yapa said, adding that the LTTE was responsible in various assassinations like the killing of former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 during an election rally in South India.
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