LTTE must cease all acts of violence - US envoy [Friday, August 18, 2006 - 9.50 GMT]

COLOMBO: There is a clear and direct responsibility for the LTTE to cease all acts of violence immediately and return to negotiations, Steven Mann, the US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs said yesterday.

He said the Government and the LTTE at this important time must show that they are willing to make the political compromises needed for a political solution within an undivided Sri Lanka.

The visiting US envoy said the US Government demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities as they see the current situation as a threatening one. Mann yesterday conveyed this message to the Government after meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

Addressing a press conference in Colombo after meeting President Rajapaksa, Mann said the United States was deeply concerned about the fighting in the recent past and the US Government wanted him to amend his earlier travel plan to covey this message.

"The United States is deeply concerned about the fighting in the recent past. The current situation is a threatening one. We believe that the continued fighting will only make the prospects for peace worse and would benefit neither party," Mann said. Mann said the cessation of hostilities cannot and must not be one sided and there is a part to play by the LTTE as well.

However, Mann said he did not come here with the expectation that parties would do everything he was saying. "It would be unrealistic to think like that," the Ambassador added.
"The Government gave a thoughtful hearing to what I said and we will be keeping in touch with the Government," Mann said.

He said the Government must work seriously to address the genuine Tamil grievances and ensure that the conduct of its Security Forces is impeccable even in combat.
"That solution should include the democratic rights and rule of law to all people of Sri Lanka", Mann added.

The US also is concerned about the rising humanitarian needs and this also underlines their call for immediate cessation of hostilities.

"In this regard we call on all sides to give support to Non Governmental Organisations operating in the affected regions and to respect their dedicated work in alleviating the suffering," he said.

Mann said the US principles are very well known and they are fundamentally unchanging.

"We inevitably support the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka the way we support the peaceful resolution to the conflict, in the way we are strong in insisting that the rights of individual must be protected in the first instance by a legitimate Government," he added.

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Last Updated Date: August 18, 2006 -9.50 GMT