Truce With LTTE “Security Threat”, Warn Lanka President’s New Allies

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JVP propaganda secretary Wimal Weerawansa told a weekly paper sympathetic to his party that his party had no intention of carrying the truce forward.

Weerawansa, who was not available for comment, told the paper the truce agreement was clearly a threat to national security.

The Tigers have not rejected negotiations with the president's new alliance but they have expressed concern about its contradictory statements. However, they are known to be wary and a recent rebel newspaper editorial did denounce the JVP as the Taleban of Sri Lanka.

However, observers in Colombo said the rebels are unlikely to be keen to start negotiations again from scratch, having spent months bargaining over the details of the ceasefire agreement with the last government.

According to political observers what worries the Tigers is that the JVP has in effect rejected a federal solution to the conflict and wants to review the role of the Norwegian mediators in the peace process.

If her alliance does win, it is not clear whether the president or her more hardline allies would decide policy.

The warning came even as President Kumaratunga repeatedly stressed her commitment to upholding the two-year ceasefire with the rebels. She called April's poll after months of deadlock with her government, accusing it of being too soft on the Tigers.

The President's party announced a deal to contest the parliamentary elections in alliance with former leftist revolutionaries of the JVP three weeks ago.