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Sri Lanka 'in resettlement vow' Sri Lanka vows to resettle Tamils
(about 5 hours later)
Sri Lanka will resettle most of the 250,000 Tamils displaced by the recently ended war within six months, according to two senior Indian envoys. Sri Lanka says it will resettle most of the 280,000 Tamils displaced by the recently ended war within six months.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and National Security Adviser MK Narayanan were speaking after meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The pledge was made after President Mahinda Rajapaksa met the Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and India's national security adviser.
The Sri Lankan government said it would do all it could to meet the deadline. Their joint statement underlined the urgency of relief and resettlement measures, but also of achieving a "lasting political settlement".
The plight of thousands of displaced people has been the cause of widespread international concern. The plight of those forced out of their homes has caused widespread concern.
Aid groups complain their access to the displaced camps has been greatly restricted, and some reports had suggested the government was willing to hold the displaced there indefinitely.
The government says remaining pockets of Tamil Tiger rebels need to be weeded out and infrastructure rebuilt before civilians can return to their homes.
India is keenly interested because Sri Lankan Tamils have close links to the millions of Tamils who live in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
'Urgent necessity''Urgent necessity'
Both Indian representatives said Sri Lanka intended to take "swift action" over the civilians. The joint Sri-Lankan-India statement said it was time to "focus attention on issues of relief, rehabilitation, resettlement and re-conciliation" in Sri Lanka.
"The government of Sri Lanka indicated that it was their intention to dismantle the relief camps at the earliest and outlined a 180-day plan to resettle the bulk of internal displaced peoples to their original places of habitation," a statement released by the Indian High Commission said. It said both sides were co-operating in providing humanitarian relief to the estimated 280,000 people displaced in the final government offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels this year.
Mr Rajapaksa met the two Indian envoys in ColomboMr Rajapaksa met the two Indian envoys in Colombo
"The government of India is committed to provide all possible assistance in the implementation of such a plan in areas such as de-mining, provision of civil infrastructure and reconstruction of houses." But it said the need to resettle the displaced in their villages and towns was urgent, and to this end "the government of Sri Lanka... outlined a 180-day plan to resettle the bulk of IDPs [internally displaced persons] to their original places of habitation".
The statement said that both countries realised the "urgent necessity of arriving at a lasting political settlement in Sri Lanka". The government of India "committed to provide all possible assistance in the implementation of such a plan in areas such as de-mining, provision of civil infrastructure and reconstruction of houses", the statement said.
It said that Colombo also intended to start a broader dialogue with all parties including Tamil ones, "for further enhancement of political arrangements to bring about lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka". International aid agencies have pleaded for relief workers to have better access to the tightly controlled camps - which the government calls "welfare villages", but which the Tamil Tigers deem "concentration camps".
Sri Lankan Minister for Resettlement Rishat Badiuddin told the BBC Sinhala service the government would try its best to meet the six-month deadline. Earlier, Sri Lankan Minister for Resettlement Rishat Badiuddin told the BBC Sinhala service the government would try its best to meet the six-month deadline.
But he said landmines had to be cleared and documentation obtained that the areas were risk free.But he said landmines had to be cleared and documentation obtained that the areas were risk free.
More than 250,000 civilians who fled the island's war zone in the north-east are detained in temporary shelters which the government calls "welfare villages". 'Lasting peace'
International aid agencies have pleaded for relief workers to have better access to the tightly controlled camps. The statement added that both countries realised the "urgent necessity of arriving at a lasting political settlement in Sri Lanka".
The Indian representatives told reporters before leaving Colombo after their closed-door meeting with President Rajapaksa that he was willing to go beyond a 1987 devolution plan in order to consolidate peace in the ethnically divided nation, where at least 80,000 people have been killed in three decades of war.
Grievances
Reconciliation Minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, a former rebel commander who was known as Col Karuna, earlier said elections would be held in areas affected by recent fighting once displaced people had been resettled.
There are no enemies to continue the guerrilla warfare or any warfare here Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan Humanitarian challenge Winning the peaceThere are no enemies to continue the guerrilla warfare or any warfare here Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan Humanitarian challenge Winning the peace
It said that Colombo also intended to start a broader dialogue with all parties including Tamil ones, "for further enhancement of political arrangements to bring about lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka".
Earlier, the Indian representatives told reporters that President Rajapaksa was willing to go beyond a 1987 devolution plan in order to consolidate peace in the ethnically divided nation, where at least 80,000 people have been killed in three decades of war.
Reconciliation Minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, a former rebel commander who was known as Col Karuna, earlier said elections would be held in areas affected by recent fighting once displaced people had been resettled.
He said the polls would address the grievances of the Tamil minority.He said the polls would address the grievances of the Tamil minority.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Muralitharan, who defected from the Tamil Tigers in 2004, said he hoped the Tamil people would be involved in the future political process. Mr Muralitharan said he wanted Tamils to have a greater role in parliament.
"Our government tried to solve this problem through the political system. After resettlement in the north we are going to do the election."
The minister of national integration and reconciliation said he wanted Tamils to have a greater role in parliament.
"If we sit on the opposition side we will never get any benefits for the minority community," he said."If we sit on the opposition side we will never get any benefits for the minority community," he said.
The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says the president and defence secretary have also spoken of elections but have not given a consistent timescale.
FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE More from BBC World ServiceFROM BBC WORLD SERVICE More from BBC World Service
Our correspondent says much of the north-eastern area is now depopulated and with the problems of minefields and other land development issues, a huge rehabilitation process will be needed before elections can take place. The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says much of the north-eastern area is now depopulated and with the problems of minefields and other land development issues, a huge rehabilitation process will be needed before elections can take place.
Last year, Mr Muralitharan's party won a landslide victory in local elections in and around Batticaloa, south of the recent conflict zone, the first polls to be held there in 10 years.Last year, Mr Muralitharan's party won a landslide victory in local elections in and around Batticaloa, south of the recent conflict zone, the first polls to be held there in 10 years.
When Mahinda Rajapaksa won the presidency in 2005, there were virtually no votes cast in the Tamil areas in the north-east - turnout in Jaffna was put at 0.014%.When Mahinda Rajapaksa won the presidency in 2005, there were virtually no votes cast in the Tamil areas in the north-east - turnout in Jaffna was put at 0.014%.
The Tamil Tigers denied disrupting elections but officials complained of heavy intimidation.The Tamil Tigers denied disrupting elections but officials complained of heavy intimidation.
Celebration call
Some members of the Tamil minority, and a group of leftist parties, say Tamils and Muslims have in some cases been harassed or insulted or forced to dance by people celebrating in the streets.
On Thursday, Mr Rajapaksa called for an end to ethnic divisions.On Thursday, Mr Rajapaksa called for an end to ethnic divisions.
"I see it as the duty of all to ensure that all differences that hitherto divided our people are subsumed in the great and momentous joy that is shared by us all."I see it as the duty of all to ensure that all differences that hitherto divided our people are subsumed in the great and momentous joy that is shared by us all.
"The celebration of this victory, as deep as it is felt, should be expressed with magnanimity and friendship towards all," he said."The celebration of this victory, as deep as it is felt, should be expressed with magnanimity and friendship towards all," he said.
His call was perhaps an indication, our correspondent says, of the sensitivity of the end of this war with its ethnic origins.
On Tuesday, the president declared the country "liberated" from Tamil Tiger rebels after the last pocket of territory held by them was taken.On Tuesday, the president declared the country "liberated" from Tamil Tiger rebels after the last pocket of territory held by them was taken.