COLOMBO, May 29 (Reuters) - President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on Tuesday her government was still committed to a Norwegian-brokered peace process that is stalled over a rebel demand for a ban on their organisation to be lifted.

"The commitment of myself and my government to the peace process has not diminished in the least," Kumaratunga told state television in a Sinhalese-language interview.

Kumaratunga made no reference to the ban, imposed in 1998 on the LTTE, but said her government was trying to make the most of the opportunity for peace.

The rebels say the ban must be lifted before talks can begin, but the government has rejected the demand as unreasonable and accused the guerrillas of delaying tactics.

"There is now a better environment in which to bring the LTTE to the negotiating table than ever before. We are trying to make the most of this opportunity," said Kumaratunga.

The impasse over the ban has put the skids under a peace process that appeared to be coasting along one month ago as Norway tried to push the two sides towards a negotiated settlement of the conflict that has killed an estimated 64,000 people.

Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim met a rebel negotiator in LTTE controlled-northern Sri Lanka earlier this month and reported progress on two other LTTE demands -- a truce and the easing of an economic embargo on rebel-held areas.

But the rebels, fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil state in the country's north and east, said in a statement on Monday the lifting of the ban was "crucial for peace negotiations" and that it would not talk as "an illegal and criminal entity with a terrorist label".

Kumaratunga also sought to reassure the majority Sinhalese amid a growing chorus of nationalist protests demanding that the government abandon the peace process. "The biggest beneficiaries of a quick settlement of this protracted, festering problem will be the Sinhalese," said Kumaratunga, also a member of the majority community.

Sri Lanka has lobbied hard to have the rebels outlawed in other countries, a fact that has made a compromise on the ban particularly difficult.

The LTTE, which depends on an extensive international fundraising network, has been listed as a terrorist group in several countries, including the United States, Britain and neighbouring India.

ACBC in disarray, special meeting summoned

Several members of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) have summoned a special meeting to discuss and take suitable action against the unfair and unlawful refusing of nominations of several members for the forthcoming ACBC elections, it was revealed at a press conference on Tuesday.

Several members including past presidents of the ACBC attended this press conference and lashed out at the former president Sudath Devapura for acting like a dictator and trying to get elected for another term violating the constitution of the ACBC. Dr. Suriya Gunesekere pointed out that according to the constitution of the ACBC nobody can hold any position in ACBC for 3 consecutive years. "Sudath Devapura was elected as the president in 1996, and he effectively refrained from holding elections both in 1997 and 1998," he said. "There were several court cases and a no confidence motion against Devapura and finally he agreed to step down from his post," Gunesekere said. The task of conducting 1999 election was given to the Public Trustee. "When Devapura was the President of the ACBC, he behaved like a dictator, nobody could speak against him and he had his thugs placed in the committee meetings to pass his resolutions through," Gunesekere alleged. He also alleged that Devapura attended ACBC meetings armed with a pistol and at one occasion threatened a member with it.

The members insisted that although Devapura is no longer the president of the ACBC he still continues to wield his power over the congress. Former President of the World Buddhist Congress and a member of ACBC Francis Wanigasekere said that the committee appointed to handle 2001 elections is in favour of Devapura. The elections for 2001 is scheduled to be held on July 1. The members allege that seven nominations of the faction against Devapura were turned down by the committee and three were accepted including that of Devapura’s and two of his friends. "What will follow is after a while these two people will withdraw their nominations making way for Devapura," Wanigasekere claimed. They also pointed out that Devapura is trying to make ACBC his family affair by bringing in his wife and his brother as office bearers.

"ACBC has sunk to the depths of poverty during Devapura’s tenure due to the blatant corruption that was going on," Wanigasekere said. He said in 1996 when Devapura took over as the president of the ACBC there was Rs. 6 million worth bank deposits alone. "Today they are all gone and ACBC cannot even afford to pay the electricity , water or telephone bills," he said.

The members insisted that the future of the ACBC is in grave danger. Taking these facts into consideration the members have decided to summon a special meeting on June 16 and appoint several panels to look into the situation faced by the congress. "Then the election scheduled for July 1 will not take place and the panel will have to work out a solution within four months," Wanigasekere said. (IW)