'President squandered earlier opportunities to involve the UNP'

They blamed Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga for the delay in establishing the joint mechanism in rebuilding Tsunami-hit northern and eastern areas.

In a hard hitting interview, the political wing leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), S.P.Tamilchelvan, said the President had squandered earlier opportunities to involve the main opposition the United National Party (UNP) and now blaming the rivals as well her own coalition partners, like the Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) for the delay.

“With the donor conference scheduled for next week, we see this as a ploy by the President to deceive the international community,” Tamilchelvan told Ethirajan Anbarasan of BBC’s Tamil Service.

'Not sincere'

If the government had been sincere, it could have formed this joint mechanism soon after the tsunami and the step could have brought relief to thousands of Tamil people, he added.

Tamil rebels say they need at least one billion US dollars to reconstruct Tsunami affected areas in the north and the east.

'At least USD one billion needed to reconstruct Tsunami affected areas'

President Kumaratunga is trying hard to establish a consensus among major Sri Lankan political parties for the plan. So far, the efforts have not been successful.

The JVP, One of the main coalition partners in the ruling United People’s Front Alliance (UPFA), has threatened to pull out if the government agrees to share the aid with the Tamil rebels. Instead, it wants the programmes be handled directly by other Tamil political parties or by the government itself.

LTTE's air capability

Tamilchelvan said the President had destabilized the peace process by dismissing the previous UNP-led government and joined hands with the JVP. “Now she blames the JVP for the deadlock which we consider as unacceptable.”

Regarding India’s concern about the LTTE acquiring small air craft, Tamilchelvan said they had created the military wing only to protect the Tamil people from aggression. “Neither India nor any other country should feel threatened by our military units,” he added.

UNP refusal  The government should reveal their position before expecting the opposition to state theirs TNA

Sri Lankan government a few months ago had complained to the international ceasefire monitors about a new air strip in the rebel-held northern areas. There were also reports that the LTTE had acquired two light air craft in recent years. Government argued that this was in violation of the ceasefire agreement. Tigers, however, say they had acquired air capability before 2002.

UNP refusal

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) meanwhile expressed surprise on the UNP’s decision over rejecting the invitation of President Kumarathunga’s to discuss the implementation joint humanitarian efforts for tsunami affected areas.

Speaking to the BBC Sandheshaya TNA’s MP for Jaffna, Nadaraja Raviraj said the opposition not being supportive is a distressing situation for the Tamil people.

The donor conference will be held in Kandy on the 16th and 17th of May and will be attended by NGO’s and donor countries.

Raviraj says TNA is surprised to hear UNP's position

Nadaraja said he was concerned over the parties including the government trying to gain political advantages out of the situation and not being a sincere contributor to the country.

"The government should reveal their position before expecting the opposition to state theirs."

He also speculated on the parties’ including the government’s capability of answering a national matter when they have failed to act together at this stage.

An invitation by the president to discuss the implementation of joint humanitarian efforts for tsunami affected areas was rejected by the UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe.

The UNP said they will make known its position on the matter, when the government approves the Joint Mechanism.

In response the president conveyed her surprise and regreted at the UNP’s rejection of a sincere offer to have a dialogue on an important issue of national concern.