Sri Lankan President calls for unity to save country

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 11, 2003

Sri Lankan President calls for unity to save country

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Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has called for her people to unite to save the countrywhich has under a political impasse for more than one month since she sacked three key ministers, the official Daily News said on Thursday.

Addressing a gathering of businessmen and university academics at her office in Colombo on Wednesday, Kumaratunga said that patriotic people from all walks of life in the country should forget their petty differences and unite at least for a short timeat this crucial juncture in a bid to save the country.

Kumaratunga's call came after she failed to achieve consensus to address the crucial problems including the peace process with her arch political rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during their talks earlier on Wednesday.

She said that she was compelled to take over the Defense Ministry to stop such actions further as she has a duty to do so.

"They ignored the LTTE's smuggling of mass scale weapons, childconscription and harassing the innocent people, especially Muslimsin the East," she said.

Kumaratunga said that the government made allegations against her that the taking over of the three ministries had stalled the peace talks but still they had time to work towards it as peace talks were scheduled to be held in mid January 2004.

Talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE) rebels has been stalled in April following six previous rounds since September last year.

Following her sacking of Wickremesinghe's defense, interior andinformation ministers, Kumaratunga offered to set up a government of reconstruction and reconciliation but her offer was turned downby the government.

A committee comprising the top aides of the two leaders subsequently went into action with the objective of formulating a compromise arrangement between the two sides.

Wickremesinghe insisted that without the powers of the Defense Ministry he was unable to proceed with the Norwegian-brokered peace process to end the two decades of armed ethnic conflict withthe LTTE rebels.

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