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LTTE asks Sri Lankan government to lift ban

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has welcomed the Sri Lankan government's hint that it may soon review the ban on the rebel outfit, but attacked former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar for advocating a cautious approach to the issue.

"Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's statement to Parliament on Tuesday that deep thought should be given to the issue of lifting the ban was an encouraging sign of the new government's commitment to end the ethnic conflict," LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham said.

The 1998 proscription of the LTTE was a 'long-standing impediment' to the peaceful resolution of the conflict, Balasingham told pro-rebel website tamilnet.com.

Wickremesinghe had told the national legislature that the government could consider relaxing regulations governing the domestic ban with safeguards for 'a guarantee of honesty' from the LTTE about peace talks and without affecting the rebel group's proscription in other countries.

"The de-proscription of the LTTE will be a recognition of the legitimacy of the Tamil people's struggle. It is not a concession, but an acknowledgement of our position as the authentic representatives of the Tamil people," Balasingham said.

According to tamilnet.com, the LTTE political advisor criticised Kadirgamar for warning against any precipitate action on de-proscribing the LTTE.

"Kadigarmar seems determined to thwart the brightening prospects for negotiations," he said.

"Kadirgamar," Balasingham charged, "has wasted his diplomatic career by obsessively pursuing this single issue (proscription of the LTTE). In doing so, he has contributed considerably to the intractability of the ethnic problem." he said.

Balasingham praised Wickremesinghe as 'a realist and a man of vision genuinely committed to bringing peace and prosperity to the island which has been devastated by war'.

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