Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse told a multi-party forum on Thursday that all political parties in the island should unite as one team of patriots as it was not the time to concentrate on differences.

According to a statement issued by the Department of Government Information, the president told the inaugural session of the Presidential Committee on Development and Reconciliation that it was time to expedite the humanitarian mission of people after the government won the war against the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

All major opposition parties attended the meeting to discuss national reconciliation after the end of the military campaign against the LTTE.

Most of the opposition parties had stayed away from Rajapakse's all party conference convened with the objective of achieving southern political party consensus on the ethnic problem involving the Tamil minority.

"We must forge unity, understanding and affection for the future," said the president, adding that reconciliation would be impossible without development.

Rajapakse said there were 300,000 persons displaced by the war in camps in the north and it was a priority for the forum to discuss their resettlement.

The government has promised to resettle most of the civilians to their original habitats within 180 days after LTTE members hidden among the civilians being sorted out.

The government said resettling the displaced civilians other than finding a political solution is the top priority of the government.

The LTTE, who had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east for more than two decades, was defeated in May losing all their 15,000-sq-km territory to the troops.

Source: Xinhua