ANTON BALASINGHAM

The Sunday Times: What impact will it have on the peace process? Does this mean the end of the Ceasefire Agreement?

Mr. Anton Balasingham: The European Union proscription will certainly have a negative impact on the peace process. The LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka entered into the Ceasefire Agreement on the basis of strategic equilibrium and the peace negotiations resumed between the parties on the basis of parity and equal status. These symmetrical relations between negotiating parties (between a state and a liberation movement) will be seriously impaired when international governments who are active supporters and custodians of the peace process, decide to penalise one party as a terrorist outfit. This one-sided state biased action will certainly deepen asymmetrical relations between the protagonists to the advantage of the state actor, creating a serious obstacle to productive engagement.

The European ban will encourage the hard-line nationalist elements aligned to Rajapaksa Government to adopt a hard-line position on the Tamil question and embolden them to seek the military option to crush the LTTE. This situation might create conditions for the current conflict to escalate into an all-out war.