EU ban: LTTE brought it upon themselves – Rambukwella [Tuesday, May 30, 2006 - 10.00 GMT]

The European Union (EU) last evening listed the LTTE in its list of terrorist organizations. The ban by the 25-member group has been described as a “slap in the face” for the LTTE, as they sought to project themselves as the sole representatives of the Tamil people.

The ban will lead to the LTTE’s assets in the EU’s 25 states being frozen.

Speaking to the PRIU government Defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the EU ban would be no deterrent to the peace process and that the government was committed to furthering the peace process.

He referred to the EU statement earlier this month where the EU called on the LTTE to allow “political pluralism and alternate democratic voices” as the LTTE did not represent all the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. “The Government has Douglas Devananda in parliament holding a ministerial portfolio,” he said.

“The LTTE can’t blame anyone for the ban, they brought it upon themselves” said the Minister. “The EU would have made this decision having evaluated the situation, especially the incidents after the first round of talks in Geneva,” he said.

“The LTTE can undo this situation by giving up terror activities and coming back to the negotiating table. We believe that if so, the ban will be lifted,” said Minister Rambukwella.

Senior presidential aide Ajith Nivard Cabraal is reported as telling Reuters "We are hopeful that this ban ... would persuade the Tamil Tigers to come in and talk to the government. It gives them a space to get back to the table."

"The Tigers are getting more and more isolated, which means the Tigers have to understand that the only reasonable, legitimate course of action that they have is to talk to the government and resolve this," he added.

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Last Updated Date: May  30, 2006 -10.00 GMT