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Erik Solhiem (Moderator): Hearty welcome to this press conference, after the sixth session of Sri Lankan Peace Talks. I would like to introduce the panel here. G L Peiris, chief negotiator of the GOSL, Anton Balasingham, chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in the middle chief Norwegian facilitator, Vidar Helgesen. We also like to introduce Yashushi Akashi, long time UN diplomat but here today as the principal advisor to the sub-committee for the immediate humanitarian needs. Now, Mr. Helgesen will read the agreed statement by the parties then there will be a chance to follow up questions from the press. Vidar please read out the statement, the floor is yours. Vidar Helgesen: Thank you very much Erik. Let me first of all thank the Japanese Government for providing the venue and making all arrangements possible to the human character to make this meeting and the surroundings a very comfortable one. And let me also thank Mr. Akashi for his input into the discussion on humanitarian and rehabilitation matters and the preparations for the donors’ conference in Tokyo in June. The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held the sixth session of peace talks at Hakone, Japan from 18 to 21 March 2003. The parties met amid growing security concerns following recent incidents on land and at sea. While they acknowledged that parallel progress is needed in negotiations on security, economic and political issues, the parties left no doubt that they must now give top priority to improving the security situation, in particular at sea. The parties undertook to enforce better compliance with the Ceasefire Agreement by their personnel. The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are deeply concerned about the latest incidents at sea, including on 10 March. To prevent future incidents at sea that could threaten the stability of the ceasefire, the parties have agreed to convene senior naval and political representatives from both sides within three weeks to work out effective arrangements for the operation of naval units in keeping with existing treaty obligations. The meeting will be convened by the Royal Norwegian Government and the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and will immediately start preparing the meeting with military leaders on both sides. The parties agreed to instruct their naval units to exercise restraint, as required by the Ceasefire Agreement, and to avoid provocative actions in the crucial period prior to the establishment of appropriate procedures. In this context, the parties agreed to strengthen the mandate and capacity of the SLMM to undertake preventive measures to avoid serious incidents at sea and on land. As a fundamental precondition for the SLMM to take on a stronger role, the parties pledged to ensure full compliance with the rulings of the SLMM, guarantee the security of its personnel in all situations, and take disciplinary action against anyone endangering the lives of SLMM personnel. The parties also agreed to take steps to further strengthen the security situation on land, including the establishment of procedures with the cooperation of the SLMM for handling soldiers and cadres apprehended by the other party. In their political discussions, the parties reiterated their commitment to develop a federal system based on internal self-determination within a united Sri Lanka. As the point of departure for planning how to give effect to the general principles of federalism in a final settlement of the ethnic conflict, the parties discussed the essential elements of fiscal federalism. The parties discussed preliminary issues and a framework for political matters and agreed to expand this into a complete plan at the seventh session of talks. The plan will outline the next steps to be taken by the parties and the topics that must be addressed in order to negotiate a federal solution for Sri Lanka. The parties recognise that a considerable amount of time will be required to address this wide range of topics, which will include geographical regions and the division of powers between the center and regions. In this context, the parties decided to invite the Forum of Federations, a Canadian-based international organization, to participate as consultants at the seventh session of talks. The LTTE reported on the formation of a Political Affairs Committee consisting of twenty-one leading members of the organization. This committee will undertake an intensive study of federalism over the course of the next three months to build the LTTE’s capacity for political transformation. The committee will study federal systems in other parts of the world, arrange seminars for LTTE cadres, consult Tamil parliamentarians and academics and seek advice from lawyers and constitutional experts, to prepare the ground for the process of establishing internal self-determination within a united, federal Sri Lanka. Following a proposal by the GOSL to prepare for local government elections in the North and East, the LTTE will favourably consider supporting the holding of such elections. It was agreed that the rescheduled meeting between the LTTE and the Muslim representatives in Batticaloa be convened on 27 April 2003. Furthermore, the LTTE and Mr. Rauf Hakeem agreed to arrange a separate meeting between Muslim leaders and the leadership of the LTTE in Kilinochchi to discuss political matters and the participation of a Muslim delegation in negotiations at plenary sessions. The parties approved the proposal submitted by the Sub-Committee on Gender Issues to establish secretariats in Kilinochchi and Colombo. Following up on the discussions in Berlin in February on human rights, the parties asked their international human rights adviser, Mr. Ian Martin, to develop three aspects of the proposed roadmap for adoption at the seventh session of talks: 1) The drafting of a Declaration of Human Rights and Humanitarian Principles. This would reflect aspects of fundamental international human rights and humanitarian standards, which both parties would undertake to ensure are respected in practice by their personnel, pending the full entrenchment of human rights standards in the eventual constitutional arrangements and in federal and local law. 2) The planning of a programme of human rights training for LTTE cadres and government officials, police and prison officials, which would contribute to the respect of these principles in practice, and of human rights education and awareness for other sections of the population. This programme would include specialised training offered by UNICEF in relation to the rights of the child, UNHCR in relation to rights of internally displaced persons and refugees, and ICRC in relation to international humanitarian law. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights would be invited to coordinate this programme. 3) Proposals for the strengthening of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to enable it to develop the capacity for increasingly effective monitoring throughout the country. These proposals would involve international advice and assistance to the HRC from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other sources, and close coordination with the roles of UNICEF in relation to child protection, UNHCR in relation to the protection of returning internally displaced persons and refugees, and SLMM in relation to acts against the civilian population. The parties agreed to hold the seventh session of talks from 29 April to 2 May in Thailand, the eighth session from 12 to 15 June in Japan and the ninth session from 15 to 18 July in Europe (venue to be determined). Erik Solhiem:Thank you very much Vidar. The floor is now open to anyone who would like to put forward a question. Q: When you started the talks you discussed the question of the March10th incident off Mulaittivu and it seems there has been a similar one today, so, what did you discuss and what can you tell us… about… would you consider this a repetition of what we saw earlier in the month? Erik Solhiem: When it comes to today’s incident the parties have informed me that they would be following… but… proper information is not available to anyone at this stage. The SLMM will investigate into what/who attacked them. But we do not want to make any kind of comment at a stage when the facts are not known to… to anyone actually. Q: My question is both to Prof. Peiris and Dr. Balasingham. Within the currently disturbed world scenario of the war in Iraq we in the media feel that it is a special challenge for you as an example to the world to carry on this peace process. Please give us some comments on your vision of peace for Sri Lanka. Erik Solhiem: Bala, please start. Anton Balasingham: It is regrettable that the Government of the United States has embarked on a…. military…. assault… on Iraq without the proper endorsement of the United Nations which we fear will marginalise the United Nations in the affairs of the World. As far as we are concerned, we are in a stage of building peace. We have had a bitter experience of war. And having fought a war for the last 25 years, we know the horrors and realities of violence and war. And now we have renounced violence and armed conflict and pursued the path of peace. I think our experience also should be an example to the world where conflict can be resolved by peaceful means through negotiated political settlement and we consider this event as a tragic event in the history of the world. We hope and pray that America and its allies involved in this war will ensure that there is… there shouldn’t be any heavy casualties on the innocent Iraqi people. We are totally against the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and even though he had an evil empire in the Middle East there are ways in which the Americans could have waited to get the endorsement of the United Nations to start this war. Yet, again we will appeal to the United Nations to prevail upon the warring nations to put an end to these armed conflicts and attempt to resolve this problem through peaceful means. Thank You. G.L. Peiris:Well I think this one of the reasons why the Sri Lankan peace process is attracting so much support and attention all over the world. Because in a world that is troubled so much by violence and strife, here is a very redeeming, refreshing example of two parties who have been at war for so long now coming together at a peace table to address difficult issues. And as we move ahead from session to session, the one thing that is evident for the whole world to see is that the parties are determined to overcome obstacles, to respond to challenges and to make certain that what ever difficulties may come up from time to time would not place the continuity of the process in jeopardy. The best example of this is what Mr. Amal Jayasinghe of AFP referred to - as we met here in Hakone there was a considerable amount of tension generated by a tragic event at sea. But we were able within the very first day to discuss that problem in a very practical spirit. Not to dwell on the past but to agree to put in place effective mechanisms to ensure that there will be no repetition or recurrence of this kind of incident which cannot but put a very considerable strain on the peace process. So that was a very considerable achievement given the depth of commitment of the parties which is very clearly demonstrated by this sequence of events. Then, war is all about the negation of human rights. That is, Sri Lankan peace process is a vivid contrast. One of the refreshing things that happened during this session in Hakone, as was pointed out by Mr. Vidar Helgesen, is the agreement with regard to the resuscitation of the electoral process at the local government level in Sri Lanka. In the North and the East of the country there is going to be a revival of elections. Now this means participatory values, the involvement of people in the democratic process and triumph for the democratic way of life, which is the antithesis of war and everything that is associated with war. Another thing that is the opposite of war is Human Rights. And Human Rights are again an area in which very considerable progress was made on this occasion. There was a detailed document which was presented to us, after discussion with both the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE by Mr. Ian Martin, the former Secretary General of Amnesty International, and the parties specifically mandated him to go ahead and present us with a concrete programme of action very detailed in content at the seventh session, the next one, to be held in Thailand. And again one of the significant features of that is the incorporation into that document an effective monitoring mechanism. It is not just a pious declaration of human rights remote from implementation and enforcement but on the contrary there is a specific enforcement mechanism built into the document on the principle responsibility for enforcement given to the human rights commission of Sri Lanka with assistance from specialised United Nations agencies and other relevant institutions. Now here you have something that captures the imagination of the world at a time of exceptional turbulence in the contemporary history of mankind. And it is in that context that we particularly welcome the participation of Mr. Yashushi Akashi on the economic side of things. After the conflict in Iraq (regrettable as it is) is over there will of course be an enormous challenge in terms of reconstruction, rehabilitation, dealing with the problem of refugees and a myriad humanitarian problems. At such a time Sri Lanka is not been forgotten by the world community. It is our hope and expectation indeed, that is the formidable challenge that in spite of the focus being transferred to Iraq, the financial resources which are committed to Sri Lanka will not be appreciably diminished. And everything that has happened in the course of this session in Hakone, confirms and reinforces our confidence that indeed the resources that are needed to address the anguish, the suffering of our people and in particular the rebuilding of infrastructure for the future, that these expectations will be fulfilled in an abundant manner. Thank You. Erik Solhiem: Next please. While you are considering taking the floor I will take this opportunity also to extend what was said by the panel here. We should not only thank Mr. Akashi, which we definitely would do, but we should thank all the Japanese who have been assisting in this endeavour here. There has been a tremendous service given to the parties by the hotel staff by the officials of the Ministry if Foreign Affairs, by each and everyone from the Japanese side and all of you have been very important in your friendly and efficient manner in making these talks a positive experience. So, thank you to each and everyone. Q: (IPF) Prof. Peiris has given us what he considers as progress in Hakone, could I have some comment from Mr. Balasingham as well, on what he sees is the progress he achieved in Hakone? Balasingham: Yes… this… peace process or the negotiations are going… have been taken place for the last six months. We had six sessions. As far as… I am concerned… (it’s a general opinion of the negotiating team also) that we have made remarkable progress in the peace negotiations. And…so far as the… I can touch on three dimensions. One is the Ceasefire situation, the other one is the humanitarian problems we are trying to tackle and finally, the political affairs. As far as the ceasefire is concerned, irrespective of few incidents (some of which are very serious of course), the Ceasefire has been holding on effectively and there has been no major confrontations between the parties in conflict. And… this has created peace, and a sense of normalcy in the entire island. But the… but yet there are certain issues which have to be implemented. Issues like the withdrawal of the armed forces from public places, from houses and villages which are being occupied by the Army in High Security Zones and outside. Anyhow, we are working on programmes and timeframes to allow the displaced people and the refugees to go back and settle in their own villages. Secondly, as far as the humanitarian affairs are concerned the subcommittee on urgent humanitarian and rehabilitation needs has been functioning effectively, there have been few sessions in Kilinochchi (some of which were attended by Mr. Akashi as a principle advisor), we have created a secretariat and we have formulated several urgent projects to attend to the urgent needs of the people in the North-East. So it has been going on and we have decided to accelerate the programme of work of this SIHRN. As far as the political affairs committee is concerned, you should appreciate that after 25 years of ethnic war, after 25 years of a struggle for political independence, statehood, Liberation Tigers have made a radical decision to explore under the principle of internal self determination a federal model to resolve the ethnic problem. I think this is a rather remarkable progress and you would have seen from today’s press release, we have not only made public announcements with regard to this decision but also taken concrete actions to formulate a comprehensive programme of action, a comprehensive plan to list out the essential elements and issues that underlie federal systems. And we have decided to take up each issue and explore it, these issues in depth and detail and we will certainly advance towards our final objective in working out a comprehensive acceptable federal model. And eventually this has to be concretised in a constitutional form. That might take time, but both the parties are seriously and sincerely interested in resolving this problem. So, in making a brief assessment of the last six months of this peace process I can say confidently that the peace process is moving forward and it has made remarkable progress. Thank you. Erik Solhiem: Thank you very much Bala, I will also challenge the two other participants to give a comment to this very important question. GL and then after that Vidar. GL: Well, in addition to what I said earlier, I’d like to add this. In December in Oslo we made the historic decision which Dr. Anton Balasingham referred to. That is, the consensus between the parties that what is required is a resolution of this conflict at the political level using federalism as the vehicle of power sharing within the country. So, that was a historic decision that was made in Oslo in December. Now we have in Hakone in March this year, an extension, a logical progression of that. I would see this process as one which is continually moving forward from step to step. Not remarkable, unrealistic progress, not breakneck speed, but steady solid progress. Now the general decision that was made in Oslo has been given specific form and contempt through the discussions that the parties had on this occasion, because we have spelt out these specific issues. Then also for the first time we have begun addressing the political issues in substance. That happened on Thursday morning when we took up the features of federalism, the practical modalities for implementing those features in the socio-cultural conditions that obtain in Sri Lanka, what is it that we need to do for a start, what are the issues that we address thereafter, what about matters which are outside the black letter of the constitution, what about money the financial resources that are needed to make a success of devolution of power at the practical level… these occupied the attention of the parties on Thursday. And we came up with a concrete action plan. It was not an empty discussion leading nowhere, it was not a theoretical discussion, but we identified the practical steps that have to be taken, the sequence which is appropriate to the taking of those steps and a very pragmatic plan to carry this forward from step to step. So, I see that as a significant achievement in Hakone session, the practical implementation of a programme that was directed towards the achievement of the goal which was identified in Oslo last December. Then apart from the other factors which I’ve already mentioned, there was also an agreement reached that we have to work between sessions. I think that’s very important. Before we meet on the 29th of April in Thailand there is a great deal of preparatory work which would be done. And this will mean constant interaction between the delegations. We have agreed on a programme to achieve this and this also I think should be mentioned as one of the important achievements on this occasion. Vidar Helgesen: I think my judgement would not differ from that of the parties. I just like to underscore that, now the parties are discussing in parallel on three tracks – the security and the Ceasefire Agreement, the economic and humanitarian issues and the political issues and the recent need for progress on all those three tracks. That does not mean that at each and every session there will be major conclusions on all those tracks. But progress is being made even though conclusions are not being reached. So this process will take time but progress is certainly made. I think its also important to realise that as this is a long process, the parties have undertaken a strategy that implies implementing while negotiating. One strategy which could have been is to lock up the parties for some weeks and prepare a final agreement, then they would come out and face the implementation challenge, I think that would have been a poor strategy for this particular situation, for this conflict. This strategy has been and is to negotiate but also then to start implementing along the way. And exactly what Mr. Peiris said, the implementation emphasis has been very important at these meetings, the need to ensure implementation of commitment already undertaken and the need to improve implementation capacity of new commitments to be undertaken. I’d also like to point at a piece of progress that has happened outside the negotiating room, yesterday we were informed by the World Bank that finally even the North-East Rehabilitation Fund (NERF) is up and running and is ready for contributions by major donors. This fund, the allocations of the funds in the NERF will be determined by both parties in the SIHRN the subcommittee. Both parties together identify projects and now funding from the NERF will be available. On the part of my government I’d like to take this occasion to appeal to all donor governments to take the opportunity now speedily to contribute to that fund and since I’m doing that I should also inform that my government will immediately release three million US dollars for this fund as of next week. Erik Solhiem: Thank you. That’s good news. Next would be the BBC. Before you get the floor I would also inform Mr. Akashi that after these questions have been put I will also ask you to give your point of view on these Hakone talks. Q: Mr. Helgesen was telling about negotiations and implementations. Now, today the document which has been put forward by the Royal Norwegian Government clearly states the areas of human rights issues which would be taken up during the next session. Yesterday talking to the press Mr. Akashi was saying that there are human rights violations in the East happening from both the parties – the government and the LTTE. Now, which are the areas that have been identified as human rights violations and until this declaration comes forward, what are the concrete steps both the parties are going to take to stop them happening? Erik Solhiem: Bala, would you start? Balasingham: Yes we have identified certain areas; we had extensive discussions with Mr. Ian Martin on these issues. Particularly we have discussed about the recruitment of under aged persons and we have agreed of course that the rights of the child is one of the most important human rights and that any violation of this right has to be addressed too. And we have taken serious steps, in the sense, of course the LTTE has made public pronouncements that the… the child… the under aged recruitment will not take place, but yet there may be cases and we are prepared to investigate and release all those under aged persons who have been recruited. Secondly, we are working, the LTTE is working along with the UNICEF on an action programme and we are drafting along in consultation with the UNICEF a comprehensive programme to put a total cessation of under aged recruitment in the North and East. And that this matter was informed to Mr. Ian Martin also. Then there are several other areas we discussed, particularly the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the political prisoners and so on and so forth. Of course the government has agreed to look into the issue of modifying the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Of course they are not willing to annul the Act at this stage but they are willing to modify some of the elements of the Prevention of Terrorism Act that violates fundamental human rights of people. And also with regard to prisoners of war the government has decided to… already a large number of Tamil political prisoners were released and there are about 80 – 90 prisoners who are still there and the government has agreed to study their cases and to release them. Of course we have demanded an amnesty for all political prisoners but the government is of the opinion that some of the cases are involved in serious criminal offences so it has to be dealt by the Sri Lankan legal system. Mr. Martin has come out with a comprehensive list of issues and what we have decide is to make an annunciation, a declaration of these human rights issues. That we will… at the next session we’ll have to go through… because there is no hurry, because this is a very very crucial matter, human rights is a very serious matter, we have to study everything in depth. Mr. Ian Martin is planning to meet me in London with the sketch of this declaration and most probably in Thailand we will come out with the proclamation or declaration of these fundamental human rights to be adopted by both the parties during the peace process. But eventually when we formulate a constitution, a supreme constitution that would define the polity of Sri Lanka in a radical form, a charter, a chapter on human rights would be incorporated to the constitution. These are the aspects that were discussed, so I would leave it to Prof. Peiris to make further comments. Erik Solhiem: GL you want to continue? GL: Well, I think on the issue of the children affected by war, there was a visit by Carol Bellamy, the head of the UNICEF to Sri Lanka about two months ago. She met government leaders in Colombo and the leadership of the LTTE in Kilinochchi. There were very rapid developments following that visit and up to now I think there have been as many as six rounds of discussions between the local representatives of UNICEF in Colombo and the LTTE. A very significant progress has been made and a final workshop is to be conducted prior to the Sinhala and Tamil New Year (that is prior to about the 12th of April) in order to finalise this programme which will address all aspects of child welfare. The return of these children to their parents, not only that, their educational needs, their nutritional needs, psychological needs (which are important because of the trauma of war)… so it is a holistic initiative which is now reaching fruition after several rounds of discussions. Then on the human rights issues more broadly, stemming from what Mr. Vidar Helgesen said, that is, what he identified as a particularly positive and encouraging feature of the Sri Lankan process is simultaneous making of decisions and implementations. They are not regarded as successive, not meetings from months and months making decisions and then beginning a process of implementation, but the two things are going hand in hand at the same time. That I think is important in respect of human rights. The human rights content of this will not simply come into being only when the parties reach the final political agreement; on the contrary, the human rights dimension is very much there through out the negotiating process. Having that is a matter of process design. But it is not something accidental, it is something conscious and deliberate and I think one has to pay tribute to the Norwegian facilitators for the creativity and imagination that they have shown in blending these different elements together in what is fascinating the peace process. So, Ian Martin has been mandated with this task and a part of that responsibility is to come up with a design which would enable human rights to be monitored and enforced while the negotiation is going on. Then on the other point that was made by Anton Balasingham with regard to the review of legislation, that is being under taken by the government of Sri Lanka as a comprehensive exercise. It is not confined to any particular piece of legislation such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act. But the effort of the Government of Sri Lanka is to examine the whole body of statute law which is in existence in Sri Lanka and to test those statutory provisions against basic human rights norms - what are the pieces of legislation in the statute books of Sri Lanka which involves some degree of conflict with basic human rights (and there are many such pieces of legislation as would be the case in any country). From time to time it is useful to do a stock taking and to see how we can over haul this legislation, modify it, change it to suit contemporary social circumstances, modern society. And from that point of view - I mean there had been representations made over a long period by bodies such as the BAR association, the International Bar Association has made available to us some very useful material with regard to this. Various human rights organisations have been in communication with the Government of Sri Lanka on these subjects - we are now under taking a review of the entity of public security legislation in order to see how in conditions of comparative stability and peace, how we can perhaps depart from some of the more drastic provisions which have been applied for a long period of time. And that is initially human rights initiative. I think those are the main areas where we have been moving forward on human rights and we are doing this not peace-mere, not ad hoc, but as part of a structured programme which I would identify as one of the most important features of the peace process. Because peace is about people and if it is to have meaning for ordinary people in their everyday life, then there has to be a very significant emphasis on human rights. And by human rights we don’t mean just civil and political rights but also social and economic rights. And that is why two things are going together in this peace process; That is the amelioration of economic conditions – building of roads, hospitals, schools, the problems of internally displaced persons, the challenge that is involved in resettling them (all of this must happen it must be visible on the ground in order to inspire confidence in the process) – that is going side by side with the attention that we are giving to the political issues. Erik Solhiem: Thank you. I have two more journalists on the list but before you get the floor, Mr Akashi, we are all very very grateful not only for the Government of Japan but for your personal involvement in the peace process which has been so crucial to bring it to the status where it is at the moment. Thank you very much. Yashushi Akashi: Thank you very much Mr. Solhiem for your very kind and positive words. We were delighted to be the host for this sixth session of the peace negotiations of Sri Lanka. This is in line with the new approach of the Government of Japan to contribute to the alleviation of suffering and to the resurrection of conflicts from which the post cold war world still continues to suffer. And the Japanese Government is determined to play its modest path in the process of consolidating the peace and in the peace building phase even prior to the peace itself has returned to the areas concerned. Sri Lanka case is one good example of our determination to join other countries in assisting, in accelerating that prevention phase of conflicts. And I am indeed very heartened to see some tangible progress which has been made as has been announced very clearly by Mr. Helgesen as well as by two chief negotiators from each side. Of course as they say, with regard to half filled bottle, an optimist would say that still there’s one half remaining in the bottle, while the pessimist might say that its only half empty. It could be the other way around, so, opinions could diverge on the progress which has been achieved up to now but rigours of twenty years of conflict are very deep and I think negotiators have been tackling the conflict issues with a distance as well as with a sense of vision and courage with the most competent and indispensable help from the facilitator that is Norway. Of course we are eager again to host on the 9th and the 10th of June a conference of donor countries as well as major financial and humanitarian organisations within the UN system to take place. But as I have been telling some of the members of the press, we feel that in the absence of tangible and substantial progress in the negotiations it would be difficult to persuade the major donor countries and to be very generous towards Sri Lankan humanitarian needs and long term reconstruction. But having seen the strong determination of the two parties to resolve remaining issues (and that is listed in this press communiqué which has been just distributed) I am encouraged that donor community will be very happy to participate in the June conference in Tokyo. Having said that of course we face some competition from other conflict areas where assistance is also needed. We may face the question of post reconstruction of Iraq soon. But as has been said by Mr. Helgesen, I feel that Sri Lanka will stand up and should stand up as a shining example of a country which has decided to say farewell once and for all to conflict and suffering and decided to restore peace on the basis of willing support by the Government of Sri Lanka as well as by the LTTE. So I was glad to participate in one session dealing with immediate humanitarian and rehabilitation needs and also in discussing with the parties and with the mediator the planning and preparation for the June conference which we feel is now on solid ground ensuring participation of maximum number of organisations concerned as well as maximum number of governments. So this peace process, the negotiating process has to move hand in hand with the rehabilitation and the reconstruction of Sri Lanka and neither side should be behind the other. There’s hardly any difference on the humanitarian needs and the reconstruction matters in this particular document because I feel it is because there's consensus on the need for accelerated progress in that area. So, as the host of this round of peace negotiations let me express not only my deep personal satisfaction but the fact that the Government of Japan feels encouraged to join in further steps necessary to place the Sri Lankan peace on more solid ground than up to now. Thank you. Erik Solhiem: Thank you very very much Mr. Akashi. Can I assure you also that the parties are very very grateful for your efforts and they also see the donors’ conference here in Japan as one of the most important milestones on the road to peace in Sri Lanka. Thank You. Vidar, if I may ask you for a brief comment most certainly not because you disagree with what was said but may be have some addition. Please Vidar. Vidar Helgesen: I’d just like to express both as a facilitator in this process and as a donor government, our deep satisfaction and appreciation with the new approach to development assistance taken by the Japanese Government. The more pro-active approach of providing development aid, in conflict and post conflict situations. As a very very large donor Japan can play potentially a very powerful role in the pursuit of peace by exactly utilising the development assistance for that very purpose. And Mr. Akashi personally has spear-headed that new approach. I’d like congratulate you on that approach and welcome that warmly on behalf of Norway and the rest of the donor community. Q : This question is to Dr. Balasingham. You have agreed to North-East elections. If elections held will the LTTE contest? Balasingham: The LTTE cannot contest the elections at this stage because we are not a political party but a liberation movement. But we have decided to consider supporting the elections (that is a very crucial matter). I think we will also consult… Mr. Thamil Chelvam will consult with the other political parties, Tamil political parties and see how these elections are… could be held in an orderly manner in the North-eastern region. And this is a significant step by the LTTE in the sense that we are promoting democratic electoral process in the North and East after a long time. Even though we do not participate as a member of a political party, we can encourage and support the Tamil political parties who support the cause of the Tamils, the cause of the LTTE and to ensure that the local administration runs effectively in the Northeast. Thank you. Q: This question is to Dr. Balasingham, picking up on my colleague’s question about LTTE favourably considering supporting the elections. I understand there was a political party formed by the LTTE in 1989 – the PFLT. Are you saying that the PFLT is now defunct? How do you propose to allow other political parties to carry out election activity in areas under LTTE control? Balasingham: The PFLT has become a defunct party and we don’t want to revive that old political party. But we have decided to support all the political parties. Irrespective of whether they support the LTTE or not, all the political parties will be encouraged to stand in a fair and free elections and we can assure you that we will not object to any particular parties participating in the elections. We also want a free and fair election held in a proper democratic environment. Therefore we will definitely support the elections. Erik Solhiem; Ok. Thank you each and everyone. END OF PRESS CONFERENCE
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