Sri Lanka: Government and Liberation Tigers Begin Negotiations

The Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are preparing for negotiations aimed at resolving more than two decades of conflict over political control of the island's Tamil-dominated north and east. Talks are to be held in Thailand, possibly as early as July. The first round of negotiations is likely to focus on the establishment of an interim administration for the north and east. If talks are successful, the LTTE is expected to take a leading role in civil administration of those areas. To date there has been little formal attention to human rights concerns in the context of peace process, although the conflict has been driven by grave abuses of human rights on all sides.