United States recognizes Sri Lanka Government's Right To Maintain its Territorial Integrity while Pushing Peace

Washington, D.C. 22 November (Asiantribune.com): There are two distinct
changes in the overall tone of the Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference
which met in Washington on Tuesday, November 21 to discuss strategies that
the international community can pursue to encourage the peace process in Sri
Lanka.

The heavy influence of the United States on the peace process was seen when
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told reporters
after the meeting, beside the joint statement he was entrusted to read, that
"the United States is not a neutral observer: it believes the Tigers are a
terror organization responsible for innocent deaths and the government has
the right to maintain its territorial integrity."

The second significant development is the emphasis, for the first time, in
the joint statement that "the legitimate interests and aspirations of all
communities, including the Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese communities must be
accommodated as part of a political settlement."

The Co-Chairs further stated "at the same time, the specific arrangements
for the north and east should not be disturbed as they are fundamental to
continuing the dialogue to achieve an agreement."

The inference is that the present combined or merged arrangement in the
north and east should be allowed to continue until new arrangements are
made, not necessarily a merged arrangement, to fulfill the "legitimate
interests and aspirations of all communities."

This is a clear departure of the Co-Chairs referring to Sri Lanka's national
question as a Tamil minority issue or a homeland issue instead have admitted
that to solve Sri Lanka's 'national question' a solution need to address the
"legitimate interests and aspirations of all communities, including the
Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala communities."

Clearly, on what was said in the joint communiqué and the remarks made by
the co-chairs to the reporters after the session, the imprint of the United
States was seen in the change of tone and the recognition of the grievances
and aspirations of a broader spectrum of Sri Lanka's populous to achieve a
political settlement.

Nicholas Burns clearly showed his displeasure with the adventurism of the
separatist Tigers in pronouncing "The United States views the Tigers as a
greatly responsible for recent bloodshed" while blaming both sides of
causing the violence over the last several months.

The Government of Sri Lanka and the separatist Tamil Tigers (LTTE) have been
on a military offensive since the mid-eighties. Tamil Tigers accused the
successive Sri Lanka governments of discriminating against the minority
Tamils and are claiming north and east of the country for a separate ethnic
Tamil state. The government says that a majority of minority Tamils are
living outside the north and east of the country among the majority
Sinhalese community in other parts of the country and that the Tamil Tigers
no longer represent the 12.5% ethnic Tamil minority.

In recent times, the government has been emphasizing that there are other
Tamil movements and political groups that operate within the democratic
mainstream who speak for a sizable Tamil population.

The Co-Chairs in their statement blamed both the Sri Lanka government and
the Tamil Tigers of violation of fundamental human rights.

The full text of the joint statement issued by Norway, the United States,
the European Union, and Japan following their November 21, 2006, meeting as
Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donors Conference, follows:

The Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donors Conference - Norway, the United States,
the European Union, and Japan - met in Washington, D.C. on November 21.

The Co-Chairs view with alarm the rising level of violence in Sri Lanka that
has led to significant loss of life and widespread human rights violations.
The Co-Chairs condemn the continued and systematic ceasefire violations by
Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE. We call on both sides to seize the
historic opportunity created by the 2002 Cease-Fire Agreement to resolve the
country's conflict peacefully. Only by committing to sustained and
substantive negotiations can the downward spiral of hostilities and human
rights violations be reversed.

The Co-Chairs particularly condemn the LTTE for initiating hostilities from
heavily populated areas and the Government of Sri Lanka for firing into such
vulnerable areas and killing and wounding innocent civilians. The Co-Chairs
call on both sides to respect international humanitarian law and set aside
demilitarized zones to protect internally displaced persons.

The Co-Chairs recall the responsibility of both parties to guarantee the
security of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to fully exercise its mandate.
The Co-Chairs were disturbed by the incident on November 8 when the Head of
Mission of the SLMM came under fire. The Co-Chairs remind the parties of
their responsibility to respect all rulings by the SLMM and to implement the
Cease-fire Agreement fully, including re-opening the A-9 highway.

The Co-Chairs recognize that talks took place on October 28-29 in Geneva.
However, we urge the Parties to the conflict to commit to a structured and
sustained process of further negotiations without preconditions once a
proposal is available, as indicated by the Government and welcomed by the
LTTE delegation in Geneva.

The agreement between the Sri Lankan Freedom Party and the opposition United
National Party should lead to a credible power-sharing proposal that can
help form the basis for a viable negotiated settlement between the Parties.
At the same time, the specific arrangements for the north and east should
not be disturbed as they are fundamental to continuing the dialogue to
achieve an agreement. The legitimate interests and aspirations of all
communities, including the Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala communities must be
accommodated as part of a political settlement.

The Co-Chairs welcome the Government of Sri Lanka's progress in establishing
a Commission of Inquiry for Human Rights with international observers. They
condemn the growing violations of human rights by all sides and the fear
that pervades civil society, politics and the media. The Commission of
Inquiry and the Government should work promptly to bring the perpetrators to
justice and to address the climate of impunity.

Citizens are caught in this conflict and agencies are unable to reach them.
We recognize the efforts by government to provide essential supplies
themselves and welcome the establishment of the consultative committee on
humanitarian assistance that is addressing several humanitarian access
issues for international agencies.

The Co-Chairs urge both parties to depoliticize the issue of humanitarian
access and for the immediate, permanent and unconditional opening of the sea
and road routes for humanitarian convoys of essential supplies. As a first
step towards this, the Co-Chairs welcome the readiness of the Government to
send one convoy via the A-9 highway to Jaffna and to allow International
Non-Governmental Organizations with a proven track record immediate access
to uncleared areas to restart their relief work. The Co-Chairs call on the
LTTE to cooperate with such initiatives.

The Co-Chairs, together with other members of the international community,
express their strong support for Norway's ongoing efforts to facilitate the
peace process and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission's role in monitoring the
Cease-Fire Agreement.