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Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage said yesterday that,“Tactics of terror can never achieve legitimate aspirations.” Armitage was at the support meeting in Oslo to pledge financial support for Sri Lanka’s peace process. He urged the LTTE to make a public declaration renouncing their armed struggle for a separate state and insisted the organization should give up violence and terror. Armitage further said the rebels should accept the Colombo Government's sovereignty over all of the country and respect human rights. The US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Ashley Wills, said Washington sent Richard Armitage to give a “ powerful message of support to Sri Lanka,” but their policy towards the Tigers remained unchanged. The US government is reported (The Island, November 23, 2002) to have categorically told the Government that it could not and would not sit with the LTTE until they (the LTTE) give a public undertaking that they are giving up terrorism and laying down arms. The Sri Lankan Government has recently been giving the Oslo meeting a very high profile and proclaiming high-level representation and participation. The conference caused problems for India with New Delhi in a dilemma over brushing shoulders with the Tigers who have been banned since 1992. India outlawed the LTTE after the group was held responsible for the May 1991 assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Following the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1373 (2001)- a tough measure to combat terrorism worldwide. Among various measures it also resolved to: “ Ensure that any person who participates in the financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting terrorist acts is brought to justice and ensure that, in addition to any other measures against them, such terrorist acts are established as serious criminal offences in domestic laws and regulations and that the punishment duly reflects the seriousness of such terrorist acts.” A statement by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on 29 September 2001 said, ‘UN Security Council Resolution 1373 is historic. For the first time, the Security Council is imposing obligations on all States to prevent terrorism worldwide. It underlines the determination of all States to join together in the fight against terrorists. All states owe it to the victims of the World Trade Centre attacks and other terrorist atrocities to implement these measures. A number of them are already in force in the UK through the Terrorism Act 2000- the UK’s tough anti-terrorism law. We are nonetheless considering urgently what further domestic legislation may be required.’ Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen opened the support meeting at the Holmenkollen Park Hotel, attended by more than two -dozen countries to pledge support to the Sri Lankan peace process. “It is my hope that this meeting will contribute to achieving the vision outlined by President Kumaratunga in her recent Address to the Nation: to rebuild Sri Lanka, so that all its peoples could live with dignity and equal opportunity,’ said Mr. Petersen. The Oslo meeting is the first joint effort by the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers to convince the international community that peace is becoming a reality. The LTTE is keen on winning political legitimacy form the international community, they are meanwhile continuing with the expansion of their administration in areas they control in the north and east of the country. The LTTE opened its own court of law on Saturday (November 23, 2002) in the eastern Batticaloa district, to “maintain law and order as mandated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leadership,” (Tamilnet, November 23, 2002).
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