THE TIMES OF INDIA

FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2003

Lankan Marxists oppose Norway peace bid

PTI

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's main Marxist party supporters headed to the city center
to protest the Norwegian-brokered peace bid and the alleged granting of
concessions to Tamil Tiger rebels.

The JVP or People's Liberation Front, is opposed to Norway's efforts to
bring an end to the island's separatist conflict which has claimed over
60,000 lives in the past three decades.

Thousands of JVP men and women, on the final leg of their four-day march
that has taken them 110 kilometres, will converge in the capital to stage a
rally denouncing alleged concessions to Tamil rebels.

The JVP has organised similar rallies in the past to drum up support against
the proposed interim administration for the island's embattled northeast
where Tiger rebels would have a lion's share of the authority.

The party has said an interim administration would pave the way for
secession. The latest JVP protest comes as Norway's special peace envoy Erik
Solheim met with a team of Tamil Tiger rebels in Paris to discuss their
response to Colombo's offer aimed at reviving the stalled peace bid.

The Tigers have reportedly ended their meeting in Paris and were headed for
Berne for meetings with Swiss authorities, the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com
website reported today.

The JVP was originally opposed to mainstream political parties, but is
currently in talks with President Kumaratunga's party in a bid to topple the
cohabitation government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

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