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Colombo: Sri Lanka's Government has firmly ruled out a military option to the country's ethnic problem and declared that it would pursue a political solution based on democracy and human rights despite the ban imposed by the European Union on the rebels. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's office said the government hopes the ban will provide "a fresh impetus and encouragement to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to think afresh and resume talks". The president's office said: "The government is of the firm conviction that solutions to the issue at hand have to be sought only through political means and not through military means." It said the government rejects any suggestions that these measures by the international community would or should encourage any military options by anyone.
The government described the ban as the latest in a series of deterrent measures by the International community concerning acts of violence perpetrated against innocent civilians, ceasefire monitors and security forces undermining the Government's peace effort to continue with negotiations. Fresh impetus The statement said the government hopes the ban will provide a fresh impetus and encouragement to the LTTE to think afresh and resume Talks with the assistance of the Norwegian facilitators. "It is the fervent hope of the government that the LTTE will take cognisance of the clearly expressed view of the international community and desist from further acts of violence and engage constructively in the peace process," the office said. Commitment On the government's part it said it reiterated commitment to the continuation of talks with the LTTE, on both the ceasefire and substantive issues relevant to the peace process. The ban, which is expected to bring further pressure on the rebels, was welcomed by the Marxist JVP and the Buddhist monk-led JHU which has been strongly campaigning for the ban. "We expect that the government will make maximum benefit of this ban to bring pressure on the LTTE," a JHU spokesman said.
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