By P.K. Balachandran, IANS
Colombo : The Sri Lankan government has ruled out an immediate ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatist group.
“As of now we have not thought of banning the LTTE,” Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told the media here Friday.
“The talk of a ban has been speculative,” he added.
However, key personalities in the country like secretary of defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, and the politically influential Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) had publicly spoken of the need for a ban on the LTTE.
Political observers believed that the ban and the abrogation of the ceasefire agreement would come simultaneously. But this did not happen. The truce pact alone was abrogated.
“We are looking at several options,” Bogollagama said without elaborating, when asked what the government planned to do if it did not want to ban the LTTE now.
The foreign minister reiterated President Rajapaksa’s statement of Dec 26 in which he said he was ready for talks with the LTTE if it came to the negotiating table after laying down arms.
He said it was pointless talking to the LTTE before it was militarily crushed or in other words, forced to lay down arms.