NEWS

Vanni visits ahead of October talks

In the wake of the successful first round of direct talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government held under Norwegian facilitation in Thailand last week, preparations are already underway for the next round to be held at the end of October.

The success of the talks at the Thai naval base at Sittahip last week, in which the dates of three more rounds were announced and agreements reached on expanding the range of confidence-building measures over the period ahead and the resolution of the difficult humanitarian situation in the north and east, has given a fresh impetus to the Norwegian initiative in Sri Lanka.

The Liberation Tigers' Chief negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, would be travelling to the Vanni "in the next few weeks" for discussions with LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan, LTTE sources told Tamil Guardian Monday. However, they refused to comment on the route Mr. Balasingham is expected to take.

Norwegian facilitators, who are finalising the agenda for the next round of talks, are also expected to meet Mr. Pirapaharan before the negotiations start. Special Advisor to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Erik Solheim told reporters in India this weekend it was likely that he and the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgessen, would travel to Vanni shortly.

Meanwhile the Thai government, whose hosting of the first round of talks was enthusiastically hailed by the negotiating teams and the facilitators, this week expressed its willingness to host future rounds of talks.

"Thailand is a neutral state which has no conflict with any other parties. Should next rounds of the talks lead to peace and order in Sri Lanka and the South Asian region as well, Thailand is ready to be the host again," Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said.

Also this week India, France and Canada joined the United States, Britain and China in welcoming the successful conclusion of the first round of talks. Other countries, including South Africa and Iran, also last week praised the success of the talks.

The Indian government said Monday it "noted with satisfaction the successful conclusion of the first round of talks."

"The adoption of a conciliatory approach to negotiations, which resulted in agreement for further meetings and the decision to deal jointly with important issues including internally displaced persons, humanitarian and reconstruction activities, demining, etc. is welcome," the Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a statement.

Mr. Solheim, who this weekend briefed Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal on last week's talks in Thailand, described India as "the most important foreign supporter" of the peace process.

"France considers this as a significant progress towards a peaceful and negotiated solution to the conflict," the French Foreign Ministry said, while also hailing Norway's role as facilitator.
"France encourages the parties to engage in future negotiations with determination and in good faith and to seek, in compliance with human rights and democratic pluralism, the establishment of a just and lasting peace which takes into account the aspirations of all communities without infringing the intangible principle of territorial integrity and unity of Sri Lanka," the Ministry said.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said in a statement: "It is encouraging that, after almost 20 years of conflict, both parties are making progress toward resolving their differences through negotiation rather than bloodshed."

Resettlement seen as key to peace

Resettlement of people displaced by Sri Lanka's ethnic war is key to the progress of peace talks to end the conflict and requires massive global support, a Norwegian peace envoy said Fri-day. Erik Solheim said the peace process in the island could be hampered if hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war were not helped to rebuild their lives.
He was speaking days after the first round of landmark peace talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government concluded in Thailand and as a rep-ort by the Norwegian Refugee Council under the UN Commission said that there are one million displaced persons in Sri Lanka.

Among the key topics discussed at the negotiations in Thailand was "the urgent need to address the difficult humanitarian situation," the Norwegian government said in a statement last week. Although both sides agreed the establishment of a Joint Task Force for Humanitarian and Reconstruction Activities, Mr. Solheim cautioned that tangible action was needed.

"It is extremely important that what is agreed on paper is also implemented on the ground," Mr. Solheim told reporters in India this weekend. "To be very concrete, no one can go back to their home if it is completely destroyed, if the paddy field is mined, if the school is not in place and has no furniture and no equipment."

"I make a strong appeal to the international community to assist Sri Lanka, the government and the LTTE in their joint effort to make resettlement possible in the north and east (of the island)," he said.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the talks in Thailand last week, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen said he was "again compelled to reiterate the need for tangible financial support from the international community."

"The need of the hour is to make peace a reality in the daily lives of people, and thereby building peace from below while negotiating pea-ce at the top," he told members of the diplomatic corps in Bangkok who attended the opening ceremony.

Bradman Weerakoon, senior adviser to Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, told reporters that the United Nations and its relief agencies are leading rehabilitation and relief efforts in Sri Lanka, with an initial investment of about 25 million dollars. According to preliminary estimates, he said, Sri Lanka needs about 500 million dollars to rebuild what was lost to war. The bulk of it is expected to come from Western donors, including the United States, Britain, Japan and the Scandinavian countries.

The United Nations food agency said on Friday it would step up plans to rebuild war-hit areas of the island using refugees encouraged to return home by the island's growing peace process.

"WFP will engage the returnees in food-for-work projects that will restore such basic social infrastructure as roads, irrigation works, schools and health clinics," the World Food Programme said in a statement.

UN says world’s displaced people are ‘neglected’

More than 25 million people fleeing conflict are exposed to torture, rape and other abuses in their own countries with virtually none of the protection afforded those fleeing to other countries, according to a UN-commission-ed study released Monday.

"Human rights violations against internally displaced persons have been widespread, including direct physical attacks, sexual assault and forced labor," said the 2002 Global IDP Study.
The study said the governments of the countries involved often do little to protect internally displaced people, who are usually from ethnic or religious minorities and who become "long-term poverty-stricken populations, neglected by authorities."

"The survey confirms two worrying trends," said spokesman Andrew Lawday. "First, large numbers of innocent civilians are being forced from their homes by increased insecurity in the world; and secondly, many of these people remain officially neglected by government authorities."

The study, published by the Norwegian Refugee Council under a United Nations mandate, found there were twice as many "internally displaced" people in their own countries as internationally recognized refugees in the world.

An international treaty signed in 1951 guarantees certain rights to refugees who flee to another country to escape war or persecution, but it doesn't cover people who are displaced within their own country.

Guiness record for longest speech

A Tamil man has entered the Guinness Book of Records by breaking the existing record for the longest speech. Mr Chockalo Shanmugam set the new mark by speaking for 7 hours and 40 minutes continuously on Saturday. The record attempt took place with the support of National Arts and Literary society, at the Women's Research Centre, Colombo. The topic for Mr Shanmugam's speech was 'Tamil and I'.

He spoke continously without taking break for going toilet. He did have any speech notes and delivered an interesting speech. He drank water only after speaking for four and half hours.
With this new record, Mr Shanmugam replaces the record held by Cuban President, Mr Fidel Castro, who held the previous records when he spoke at the United Nations on September 26, 1960, for 4 hrs and 29 minutes. Prof. Sivasekaram, S Vanniyakulan, K Senthilvel, Dr (Miss) Thiruchanthiran, A Francis Jen-am, M Kanapathipillai, and T Gobalakrishnan were referees at the record attempt.