Friday, November 25 2005 14:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Seeking India's help to strengthen the peace process, Sri Lanka's new President Mahinda Rajapakse today (Nov 25, 2005) said he wanted a new truce arrangement with the Tamil Tiger rebels and transparency in the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire.

"I will have an open and transparent peace process which will honour human rights and will not permit the recruitment of children," the President said making his first policy statement in Parliament after his election last week.

He made it clear that he would not brook terrorism in the peace process that he would soon initiate.

Rajapakse said, "The ceasefire agreement will be restructured so that acts of terrorism will not be allowed."

Calling on all friendly countries to help push truce with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), he said, "The facilitation and mediation extended by the Untied Nations and other such organisations that support peace in Sri Lanka, all friendly countries, the international community, India and other regional states will be properly organised and utilised to strengthen the peace process."

Rajapakse made no reference to Norway, which helped bring the rebels to the negotiating table and brokered the Scandinavian-monitored ceasefire.

The President said he was ready to open talks with the rebels but not ready to recognise the island's north and east as the traditional homeland of minority Tamils, a demand that the LTTE have made for long.

"Sri Lanka will be the traditional homeland of all its people Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays and Burghers. They have the right to live anywhere in the island," he added.

Rajapakse said the peace process between the previous Government and the LTTE was at a stalemate because other involved parties had been kept out.

He stressed that the final solution to the island's simmering ethnic conflict would lie within a 'unitary' state.

His position is in direct contrast to that of his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party led by his predecessor, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and is likely to disturb the LTTE, which has said it will give up separatism in exchange for a federal sharing of power.

"Our agenda is to be open and transparent and it will include important elements such as renouncing separatism and demilitarisation. Talking will not be easy but that is the path we choose," Rajapakse told a full house of legislators.

Rajapakse beat Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe to win last week's presidential poll with the support of two nationalist parties, the Marxist JVP, or People's Liberation Front and the Buddhist monks' party of JHU, the National Heritage Party, which want Norway out of the peace process and are against federalism.