NEW DELHI, May 9 (UPI) -- Sri Lanka has said the efforts of Tamil rebels to provoke retaliatory attacks from Colombo have been unsuccessful.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, visiting New Delhi, said the government would like to wait before taking any military action against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Colombo has asked India to use its diplomatic weight with the European Union to get the organization to ban the LTTE; most of the group's finances come from Europe. The Sri Lankan government also plans to reach out to political parties in southern Tamil Nadu.
India has banned the LTTE, and the United States has designated it a foreign terrorist organization. The Indian Express newspaper said Wednesday the EU will take up the matter in the coming weeks, and Sri Lanka feels New Delhi's efforts will help.
During his meetings with Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, Samaraweera spoke of his government's hopes. "Colombo will make an effort soon after the election process is over in Tamil Nadu to engage with important Tamil political parties there," he said.
Colombo already consults with Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka. But the foreign minister said Colombo's major concern is that there is not enough pressure being put on the LTTE to cooperate with the peace process.
"Banning (the) LTTE will be step towards curtailment of its fund-raising activities and could be negative incentive or means to get the LTTE to negotiating table," Samaraweera said.
