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The Sri Lankan government has welcomed the month-long unilateral ceasefire called by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Christmas-eve and promised a positive response within a few days.
"It will be a better start for peace," Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando told the state-run newspaper Daily News.
There was no official response from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The LTTE said that the ceasefire could be extended further, if there was a positive response from the government.
The nature of the positive response was not spelt out, but it is likely to be in the form of removal of restrictions on the movement of goods to the war-affected areas of northern Sri Lanka and travel and residential restraints on Tamils.
It is not yet clear if the government will announce a reciprocal ceasefire. A Colombo daily reported that Wickremesinghe would first like to hold discussions with India before his official response.
The unilateral ceasefire announcement came amidst efforts by the new United National Party regime to re-invigorate a dormant, Norway-backed peace process.
Wickremesinghe is due to meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee this weekend to get India to play a role in resolving Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.
The state-run daily said Wickremesinghe had extensive discussions with Fernando and other senior ministers on Wednesday night on the LTTE's ceasefire announcement.
Fernando was of the opinion that the ceasefire offer would strengthen the government while holding talks with Indian leaders.
The UNP government's positive response to a unilateral ceasefire declaration is in sharp contrast to the previous Peoples Alliance regime's outright rejection of a similar announcement by the LTTE last Christmas. The militant group called off the truce after four months.
However, former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, who was part of the previous government's think tank that treated the rebel group's unilateral truce with disdain, struck a different note this time, welcoming the latest ceasefire.
Kadirgamar expressed hope that the process will be a success.
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), which campaigned in the recent election for opening of exclusive talks with the LTTE and an immediate halt to hostile military operations, was also enthusiastic about the ceasefire.
"The move brings new hopes to the Tamils. We are very happy. We are confident that something will come out of it," said TULF senior vice-president V Anandasangari.
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