COLOMBO, Sept. 28: Reuter: A Sinhalese political party has announced it will hold a public meeting in Sri Lana’s rebel dominated northern province with the help of Tamil guerrillas The independent newspaper, Island, today quoted Vijaya Kumaratunga, spokesman for the Sri Lanka Mahajana (People’s) Party (SLMP), as saying it planned to hold a rally in Jaffna on October 15 and conduct religious ceremonies to pray for peace. Kumaratunga told the newspaper that Vellupillai Prabakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the most powerful of the guerrilla groups, said he had no objection to the meeting or religious ceremony.
‘The SLMP, which backs a government plan to end the fighting by giving more power to the provinces, is a splinter group of the main opposition freedom party, which opposes the plan. The party is led by Chandrika Kumaratunga, daughter of freedom party leader Sirima Bandaranaike.
Few of Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese lives in Jaffna, a guerrilla stronghold, and the SLMP would be the first Sinhalese party to hold a meeting there in three years.
‘The state run newspaper, Observer, said today that a third round of peace talks between the government and moderate Tamils would be held in New Delhi on October 15.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 3, 1986
