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Christine Jayasinghe in Colombo
Sri Lanka's main Tamil party has welcomed efforts by the United States to intervene between the ruling People's Alliance and the opposition United National Party, saying the move would speed up a Norwegian bid to restore peace in the country.
"Our country is in such dire straits that we should appreciate the motives with which the US made the move," R Sampanthan, secretary general of the Tamil United Liberation Front, said.
"It is puerile to talk of interference. We should, instead, accept the beneficial fallout of the good intention with which the US has acted," he said.
Washington on Thursday expressed concern over the political uncertainty in Sri Lanka and Ambassador Ashley Wills, in an unprecedented move, met President Chandrika Kumaratunga "to deliver a message".
"The US is concerned about Sri Lanka's political uncertainty and its possible impact on the prospects of peace and economic growth in the country," an embassy statement said.
"Wills was asked by one political party to deliver a message to another. After reflecting on the request and on consulting Washington, he agreed to do so," it said.
However, the nationalist Sihala Urumaya, which also tried to forge unity between the two rival parties, denounced the US envoy's action.
"This amounts to blatant interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka," SU leader Tilak Karunaratne said. "The US considers us a banana republic."
The TULF spokesman said he expected the US move to revive Oslo's stalled effort to open peace talks between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
"It is inevitable that the Norwegians will be involved in any initiative to open negotiations with the LTTE. They have been involved for so long, they know the nuances of the situation," said Sampanthan.
Indo-Asian News Service
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