Colombo: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga wants her nominee to join the government delegation being sent to Thailand to hold talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) later this month, her spokesman said on September 4.

"This request has been clearly and directly conveyed to the government by the President," her spokesman Harim Peiris told reporters. "The possibility is being considered and we have sought their views on this," he added.

Kumaratunga's request may add a further complication to the commencement of talks on September 16, as her hardline stance on crucial issues in the run-up to the negotiations has already earned the wrath of the rebel group, which sees her as an obstacle in the peace process.

In the last few days, she has opposed removal of the ban on the LTTE prior to commencement of talks, the idea of an interim administration under rebel control in the North East and release of militants involved in heinous bomb attacks as a confidence-building measure.

She had told Sinhala far-Right groups and Buddhist monks there were legal avenues by which the government's moves for de-proscription and the proposed interim administration could be thwarted.

Peiris rejected a suggestion that she was raising issues at the last minute that might complicate the peace initiative.

He also did not agree that the request for a Presidential nominee had come too late. "It is not really late. The President has been involved in the peace process all along."

He fielded a barrage of questions on the President's opposition to removal of the LTTE's ban prior to the talks, saying it was up to the Defence Minister to bring the proposal before the Cabinet and obtain its approval.

PTI