Thursday, March 26, 2009

Immediate ceasefire, humanitarian access before political engagement - TNA MP

Immediate ceasefire, humanitarian access before political engagement - TNA MP
[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 March 2009, 07:48 GMT]
S. Jeyananthamoorthy, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian from Batticaloa district on Thursday said that the TNA had decided not to engage in talks with the Sri Lankan President or anyone representing the SL state before a conducive environment for such political engagement is created by an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to the suffering people of Vanni. The TNA would clarify the reasons in detail in a press meet in Colombo, he further said, condemning the abduction of the brother of Jaffna district MP Kajendran, barely 48 hours before the TNA was to decide its position on accepting an invitation for a meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

S. Jeyananthamoorthy
The TNA was invited by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to participate in a meeting to be chaired by him Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. and the TNA had discussed the issue in an internal meeting on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the fate of Mr. Raveendran Selvarajah, a lecturer of the Jaffna University and the brother of MP Kajendran, was not known. Raveendran was abducted Tuesday night in the high security area behind the parliament.

Family members of TNA parliamentarians have earlier been harassed, especially during the time of budget voting.

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