By Sanjeevi Jayasuriya reporting from Trincomalee
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday told the UNP National Executive Committee that the government did not anticipate problems during the first round of the peace talks due to begin in Thailand next month but warned that this may not be so in subsequent rounds.

The setting up of an interim council for the north east would be discussed during these talks and LTTE agreement on that can be considered an acceptance of a part of the country’s present constitution by the Tigers, he said explaining that there was provision for an interim council in the constitution.

The premier who was speaking at the MacHeyzer Stadium in Trincomalee recalled that when he last visited Trincomalee in November, just before the general elections, he addressed a meeting at that venue wearing a bullet proof vest.

"But today there is no such need. That is what peace is all about," he said.

The peace talks, like deactivating mines, had to be tackled with care as one small mistake can scuttle the whole process. The continuity of the process needed the understanding of both sides.

"Not only we but also the LTTE needs to achieve an honourable peace," he said explaining that the LTTE agreed to participate in the peace effort not because they were military weak but because of the opportunity given to them to make peace and end two decades of war.

"I firmly believe that the success of the peace talks is the wish and expectation of the whole country," Wickremesinghe said. "But we are treading a difficult path with obstructions thrown up by some of our own people."

He said that the people of the country and specially those of the north and east wanted peace more than anything else and it would be possible to build on these expectations and achieve the peace objective.

Peace was necessary for economic growth and development of the country and it was therefore necessary to direct all our efforts towards achieving peace.

He announced that a policy decision on national debt will be taken shortly. The economic growth rate was improving. By early next month a national plan on economic growth, employment creation and increasing production will be ready.

"All these plans will materialise once peace is established in the country," he declared.

The premier also announced that a bill to set up five economic zones in the country aiming at more employment creation and industrial development will be discussed in parliament in September. The government looks forward to creating a new political culture shedding party politics and enabling all sections to get together to build the country.

"The UNF will take up this challenge but the question is whether the other parties are ready to do likewise," he said.

Wickremesinghe who said that he was not seeking to become a popular leader but to do what needed to be done in the interest of all the people of the country noted that this was the first UNF executive committee meeting to be held outside Colombo.

A resolution to support the government in its efforts to bring peace and develop the economy was unanimously endorsed at the meeting.