South Asia Monitor: Sri Lanka: Finding the Start of a Long Road - January 01, 2003

January 1, 2003

At their meeting in Oslo December 2–5, the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed to "explore a solution founded on the principle of internal self-determination…based on a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka…[that must be] acceptable to all communities." This is a significant breakthrough, the first in many years. It provides a sense of direction for the long and difficult negotiations ahead. Public statements by both sides indicate that they will be trying to draw lessons from a wide range of existing models.