COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government Thursday denied having any informal talks with the Tamil militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in London and reiterated its stand that any future discussion with the Tamil militant organisation was possible only after they lay down their arms.
Cabinet spokesman and minister of state for defence Ranjan Wijeratne told a news conference that he was not aware of any such informal talks being held between the Sri Lankan high commissioner in London and the LTTE leader Sathsivam Krishna Kumar alias Kitty.
Asked whether there was any possibility of talks between the government and the militants in future, the minister reiterated his government’s stand that the militants must first give up their arms before any dialogue could be resumed.
A yearlong peace talks between the government and LTTE collapsed when the militants attacked police stations and army posts on June 11, leading to a full-fledged confrontation that has been continuing for the past five months.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 16, 1990
