Choose war or peace

Sri Lanka's main Muslim party leader Rauf Hakeem (L) talks with Japan's special peace envoy to Sri Lanka Yasushi Akashi (R) yesterday in Colombo at the end of a four-day visit to the embattled island. Akashi warned that the international community cannot restore Sri Lanka's faltering ceasefire and urged the government and Tamil rebels to decide for themselves on war or peace. PHOTO: AFP

Peace emissary Yasushi Akashi ended his four-day visit calling on both Colombo and the Tiger rebels to scale down the latest violence, which he described as the worst since his appointment in late 2002.

"It is very clear the ownership of the peace process belongs entirely to the government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)," he told reporters.

He said the island's key foreign backers -- Japan, the US, the European Union and Norway -- will meet in Tokyo later this month to review their engagement in the peace process in the light of "slow progress".

"We in the international community play a supportive role in this process. Unfortunately too much is expected of us. Sometimes we are unduly criticised for doing too much or too little."

Akashi said both sides must work towards reducing violence which has claimed more than 200 lives over the past month and threatened a ceasefire in place since 2002.

"There is a deep anxiety over the escalating violence," he said.

Government spokesman Keeheliya Rambukwella denied security forces were responsible for stepping up violence and blamed the Tigers.

"When the international community blames both sides, unfortunately they don't say what percentage of blame goes to the government," Rambukwella said. "If at all, our percentage is very small."

Chief peace negotiator Nimal Siripala de Silva told parliament President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned a spate of killings which the Tigers have largely attributed to paramilitary units backed by security forces.

De Silva denied any government involvement in the killings and said security forces have been ordered to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Akashi met Rajapakse as well as the head of the LTTE's political wing S.P. Thamilselvan to discuss attempts to salvage the Norwegian-backed and internationally supported peace bid.

Akashi said India, which banned the LTTE after its suspected involvement in the 1991 assassination of former premier Rajiv Gandhi, will be invited to Tokyo to join the meeting.

"There will be soul-searching... where we are with the peace process. Where we should be going. Why there is not enough progress in the peace process."

Akashi condemned the April 25 suicide bombing targeting army chief Sarath Fonseka, who survived, and said the Tigers must heed the concerns of the international community about such attacks.

He stressed the parties must decide to push on with the peace process or abandon it and the international community can only play a "subsidiary role."

"We cannot substitute for the parties in conflict," he said.

The LTTE told the Japanese envoy to press the government to halt alleged military attacks against them and said the island could face "doom" if they retaliated. The government similarly called on the LTTE to halt violence.

Talks on a permanent settlement have stagnated since April 2003 after six rounds of face-to-face discussions. More than 60,000 people have died in the separatist conflict since 1972.