COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 2 (UPI) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has said he will seek a fresh perspective on settling the island's ethnic conflict through political means.
The president, The Hindu newspaper said Friday, told visiting U.S. Undersecretary for South and Central Asia Richard A Boucher during his meeting that he would ask an all-party conference to work out suitable proposals for devolution of power to find a negotiated settlement to the decades-long separatist conflict.
"The president would ask the all-party conference to have a fresh outlook into this matter, and arrive at consensus on proposals that could be placed before the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for negotiation," a statement from the president's office said.
During the meeting Rajapakse also emphasized that the failure of earlier proposals to resolve the crisis was because they did not have the agreement of the LTTE, and that it would be impractical to impose any unilateral solution without agreement from the rebels.
"The frank and cordial exchange of views between the president and Mr. Boucher lasted over an hour," the presidential office said. The U.S. envoy to Colombo was also present during the meeting.
The president's office said that regarding the nature of the negotiated political outcome, Rajapakse explained the need to seek a Sri Lankan solution, and not be confined to solutions that have worked in other countries. He did not rule out the possibility of some of those solutions being suitable in the Sri Lankan context, however.
Rajapakse also explained to the U.S. official that the LTTE would have to take the present opportunity to arrive at a negotiated settlement and join discussions.
