Sea Clash Sorted out, Collapse of Talks Averted

by Suvendrini Kakuchi

HAKONE, Japan, Mar 18 (IPS) - Negotiators for Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tigers used the first day of peace talks Tuesday to iron out tensions around a sea clash between the navy and the rebels - and prevent similar incidents that could threaten the peace process.

Eleven members of the Tamil Tigers of Liberation Eelam (LTTE), as the Tiger rebels are formally called, were killed after the navy sank an LTTE merchant ship off the coast of Mulative, eastern Sri Lanka on Monday last week.

The clash prompted the LTTE to threaten to pull out of the scheduled the talks in Japan.

A long afternoon session, which marked the start of the four-day talks in this city 70 km west of Tokyo, ended with agreement on several ways to prevent clashes from occurring in the future.

''We got out of the conflict by agreeing to develop new terms that will ensure more security and safety,'' said Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Sri Lanka's constitutional affairs minister. ''Now we can go ahead with other issues.''

The two sides, which are seeking to end a two-decade old rebellion by Tamil rebels for a homeland for minority Tamils, discussed the expansion of the current Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), a multi-member Nordic team overseeing the truce, its right to inspect vessels, and an increase in the number of monitors.

The Tigers and the Sri Lankan government also decided to hold a meeting in Sri Lanka in April between Colombo, the Tigers, the Norwegian government that is playing a mediating role and the SLMM.

Delegates coming out of the conference hall looked visibly relieved on Tuesday evening.

''The matter (the sea clash) was taken up. We resolved it. The mood was positive,'' said Rauff Hakeem, a member of the government panel and minister of port development, shipping, and Islamic affairs.

Anton Balasingham, the rebels' chief negotiator, also expressed

satisfaction with the progress Tuesday.

He had protested the sea clash strongly, arguing that the Sri Lankan navy had violated the ceasefire agreement in place for more than a year now.

The agreement on ways to prevent a repeat of the sea clash and similar incidents followed several meetings Tuesday morning on the issue

Balasingham met with Yasushi Akashi, the Japanese envoy in charge of Sri Lankan affairs, in a private meeting over the clash.

''Mr Balasingham has made clear he is eager to make progress in

negotiations,'' Akashi told reporters afterwards.

Peiris met separately with Balasingham for talks on the same issue, which had raised concerns over the threat such incidents posed to the truce, the two sides' confidence in each other, and the peace process in general.

Just before the talks began, Balasingham said that the LTTE was very upset over the clash and asked for an explanation from the government side.

In the end, the Norwegian government sent a delegation to the rebel-held north of Sri Lanka to pressure the LTTE to attend the current talks in Japan.

The clash caused ''growing unease'' among the public, said Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who thinks the government of Prime Minister Wickmarasinghe is too soft on the Tigers.

She warned that it could delay or negate the crucial steps taken up until now in the current peace process, which began in September 2002.

The Sri Lankan government and opposition political parties allege that the Tamil Tigers have been undertaking a military build-up in the meantime.

Still, the mood in the Japan talks was marked by optimism and confidence-building after the discussion of the sea clash.

''The first day is aimed at getting over the issue as soon as possible and progressing with other key issues on the table,'' Peiris told reporters.

In many ways, the concern over contentious issues like the clash highlight the fragility of the peace process - which has gone further than many imagined when it began six months ago.

The touchy situation also reconfirms the important role that foreign facilitators, Norway and also Japan, which is hosting a donors' conference for Sri Lanka later this year, play in pushing the warring parties forward in the peace process.

As the host of this round of talks and its taking a formal role in aiding the peace process, Japan is keen to see progress -- and is using its economic clout to increase the stakes that Colombo and the Tiger rebels have in avoiding a collapse in peace talks.

On Wednesday, Akashi is expected to discuss Japan's economic contribution to the peace process.

''Japan is committed to providing economic assistance on the basis of progress in peace negotiations,'' Motohide Yoshikawa of the Japanese foreign ministry told media.

The prevention of more serious trouble in the peace process at the Japan talks - through the discussion of the sea clash, is also a boost for the Sri Lankan government, which is facing the heat from opposition politicians and the president, Kumaratunga.

Accusing the government of appeasing the Tigers, she has threatened to dismiss the government if it ''further compromise national security''.

But Peiris stressed: ''What is important today is we have proved that peace is irreversible. We have avoided a breakdown, indicating that despite the hiccups on the way, there is a firm commitment to move forward.'' (END/IPS/AP/IP/SK/JS/03)