The Sri Lanka Peace Talks in Thailand
Pragmatism, Respect, Mediation Key to Peace Process
Marwaan
Macan-Markar
SATTAHIP,
Thailand: The signals of peace from the just-finished round of
talks on Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict stem from three elements
that saw the negotiations through: pragmatism, mutual respect,
and effective international mediation.
These three
factors formed the foundations of the Sep.16-19 discussions at
the Sattahip naval base here - and made it possible for Sri Lankan
government negotiators and Tamil Tiger rebels to set the dates
for three more rounds of talks in late October, December and January.
Much of the guarded optimism about the current negotiations now
stems from the common vision that the two sides - who have been
fighting a bloody separatist conflict since 1983 - have in addressing
the civil war.
On day one of the talks, both the chief negotiators - Gamini Lakshman
Peiris for Colombo and Anton Balasingham for the Tigers - underscored
the form this
round of face-to-face talks would take.
Learning from the previous four rounds of talks, both said the
negotiations would be a step-by-step approach, meaning that they
would be realistic and address the less contentious issues ahead
of the thornier problems.
Among the first issues they reached common ground on are the daily
concerns of the civilians living in the war-ravaged regions of
Sri Lanka, the northern and eastern provinces where most minority
Tamils live.
High on the agenda was the need to increase efforts to rid the
area of landmines - 1 to 1.5 million of them -- and to help resettle
the one million people internally displaced by the war.
The two sides agreed to tackle the tougher issues of power sharing,
its extent and form in subsequent talks. Also to be discussed
later is the decommissioning of weapons and disarming of the Tamil
Tigers, whose military force has been estimated at 3,000 to 10,000
armed cadres and a similar number of unarmed ones.
''At the beginning of the negotiating process, you don't ask for
decommissioning. That has to come after substantial progress has
been made,'' Peiris declared at a press conference on Wednesday.
By contrast, the last round of peace talks from November 1994
to April 1995 had the two parties approaching the process with
different views.
While the Tigers said they were keen on a step-by-step approach,
the Sri Lankan government of the day, led by now President Chandrika
Kumaratunga, wanted a broader agenda that aimed to resolve humanitarian
concerns as well the larger political issues, including the Tamils'
quest for a separate homeland.
On Monday, Colombo was unequivocal that the end game it seeks
is one with a win-win outcome, a fact that the Tigers should find
endearing.
The current round of negotiations, the fifth since Sri Lanka's
ethnic conflict exploded in 1983, will not be ''a zero sum exercise,''
Peiris said, in remarks that showed a sea change in the Sri Lankan
government's approach.
''These negotiations cannot be pursued on the basis that gain
accruing to one party involves reciprocal loss to the other. We
emphatically reject that premise,'' added Peiris.
For their part, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as
the rebels are formally known, revealed a stance about its struggle
not witnessed until now -- a willingness to scale down their demand
for a separate state of Tamil Eelam to some degree of autonomy.
This -- the Tigers' use of the words ''homeland'' and ''self-determination''
as not being the same as a separate state -- was a major statement
whose implications will be looked at closely in terms of the rebels'
political goals.
Heretofore, the Tigers' demand for a separate state has been at
the centre of their struggle.
According to Balasingham, the LTTE's fight for Tamil Eelam is
no longer a front-burner issue as was the case since it took up
arms in the early 1970s to protest discrimination by the state.
''We operate according to the concept of a homeland and self-determination.
Homeland doesn't mean separate state as such,'' he said. ''Saying
that the LTTE is fighting for an independent state has no relevance.''
But he also explained, ''If our demand for regional autonomy or
self-government is rejected, our people would have no other option
and separation would be the last resort.''
To that, Peiris was quoted as saying: ''Their aspirations can
be fulfilled within one country if we set about it in the proper
way.''
As important as the political positions laid out at the talks
were the warmth and respect the negotiators displayed toward each
other -- including a willingness to shower praise when the occasion
arose.
Peiris affirmed that he enjoyed meeting and working with his counterpart,
and Balasingham said that the Tigers had high respect for the
three men on Colombo's team.
Peiris' encounter with the Tiger representatives here was his
first with the group that only a few years back launched a suicide
attack at a political rally where he was present.
Finally, international involvement - absent during previous attempts
at peace -- lends weight to the chances of success of the current
peace process.
The Norwegian government - which has also played the role of broker
in the Sudan and Middle East conflicts -- has been playing a mediatory
role in the Sri Lanka conflict since 1998.
Apart from being present at the negotiating table, Norwegian officials
there helped draft the final statement that came out after the
12 hours of negotiations, said a diplomatic source.
Balasingham said, ''We are confident that the process will succeed,
because this is the first time that a third party is involved
and guiding the process.''
There is also an international presence in Sri Lanka, through
the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, which monitors the ceasefire
agreement signed by Colombo and the Tamil Tigers in February.
The seven-month lull in fighting is the longest Sri Lanka has
experienced since 1983. Officials involved in the peace talks
say that over 2,000 lives have been saved during the truce, as
opposed to over 64,000 people who have died due to the war.
Email Story | 
Discuss Story
