Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka's parliament will today debate a plan to share tsunami aid with Tamil Tiger rebels, a pact government aides say is imminent and which could help jump-start the island's stalled peace process.
The Tigers, whose two-decade war for self-rule ended with a 2002 ceasefire, said last week the aid-sharing deal could help restart talks aimed at forging permanent peace that broke down two years ago.
A resumption of peace talks would be the most significant step in Sri Lanka's protracted peace process since they broke down in 2003, and could rekindle investor confidence choked by years of shelling in the ravaged north and east and suicide bombings in Colombo.
However, parliament will not vote on the aid paper, and the government will formally announce the pact to share $3 billion in international aid with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) once it has been signed, senior aides said.
Foreign diplomats close to the negotiations said it could be signed during today's debate.
Political bickering over aid-sharing has split the government and reduced the ruling coalition to a hamstrung minority in parliament, and while it is seen as limping on for now, analysts say Sri Lanka could face a general election in months.
The Tigers say they accept the final draft, brokered by Norway - under which committees comprising rebels, government officials and Muslims can recommend, prioritise and monitor projects - and will not renegotiate it.
But Muslims in Sri Lanka's east want more say in the deal, and want to be a joint signatory.
"The Muslims wanted a tripartite kind of document, and it is now for ...the international community and the facilitators to coax the Tigers," a senior government aide said on condition of anonymity.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's office issued a statement yesterday seeking to allay Muslim concerns about safety and security in the east, where the Tigers control pockets of jungle and are locked in a feud with a breakaway faction.
"In the event that the fundamental interests of the Muslim community are seriously jeopardised, the would actively consider suspending co-operation within the Tsunami Relief Council," Ms Kumaratunga's office said.
The rebels said on Wednesday that Norway, which is brokering wider efforts to forge lasting peace, had asked them to wait until the government split has healed before signing.
Nearly six months have passed since December's tsunami flattened much of Sri Lanka's coastline and killed 40,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's shores. Tens of thousands of people are still living in basic conditions and dependent on food handouts, and foreign donors have urged Ms Kumaratunga to formalise the pact immediately to speed the flow of aid. - (Reuters)