Sri Lanka has lambasted Britain's Junior Foreign Minister Peter Hain for advocating self-determination for the island's Tamil minority in a bid to end ethnic bloodshed, a state-run daily said Thursday.
Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was quoted as saying in the Daily News that Hain's remarks late last month were seen as an infringement on this former British colony's right to resolve its own problems.
"I would ask our friends abroad to desist from making statements which infringe on our right to resolve our own problem," Kadirgamar told the government-run newspaper.
In a visit to Sri Lanka last month, Hain said Britain was willing to accept the principle of self-determination for Tamils in a bid to end the separatist war which has killed more than 60,000 people in the past two decades.
Hain said at the time they were supportive of Norway's efforts to bring the Sri Lankan government and separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to the negotiating table.
The LTTE have been fighting a drawn-out campaign for an independent homeland in the island's northeast.
"The LTTE, like the IRA (Irish Republican Army), need to acknowledge that, whilst a Tamil kingdom constitutionally split from the rest of the island will not receive recognition by Europe, the USA or indeed India, the principle of self-determination ... would be supported by the international community," Hain said at the time.
But Kadirgamar hit back, saying such a move was unthinkable, "disturbed the situation" and even upset neighbouring countries such as India.
"I take rather strong exception to that statement (of Hain) because self-determination could very well mean the right to secession.
"The state of Sri Lanka cannot under any circumstances whatsoever, contemplate the possibility of a right of secession."
Kadirgamar used neighbouring India as an example, saying it was a near federal union but there was no question of self-determination for any of its states.
"As the foreign minister of Sri Lanka I do not welcome statements made by people outside the country, even though they come from very friendly countries prescribing remedies for our problem.
"I find some of these remedies very academic. They are based on the experience of the other parts of the world which do not necessarily relate to us."
Britain's Hain had asked Sri Lanka to take lessons from the Northern Ireland peace process.
He said it was not realistic to expect the LTTE to abandon their main objective of a separate state called Eelam, but the guerrillas appeared convinced there was no international support for a such a move.
Sri Lanka's minority Tamils were in a better position to win a greater degree of autonomy with the right of self-determination in almost all aspects of their day to day life through talks, Hain said.
"Tamil people don't want a fancy constitutional architecture," Hain said. "They want jobs ... to go about their business... The interests of all parties can be reconciled if the parties are willing to sit down and talk."
He had also said Britain was "very seriously considering" a Sri Lankan request to outlaw the LTTE in London where the separatist group maintains its international secretariat -- COLOMBO (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
