Political observers and diplomats analysed the outcome of last week’s Geneva confab as positive but warned that words or statements won’t determine the fate of the next round—instead, they said, the proof of the pudding will very much be in the eating.

"It is interesting that the interval between the last talks and the next meeting will be two months," noted Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA). "Each side is clearly expecting the other to demonstrate bona fides on the ground. It is a testing period during which they will watch how agreements reached in Geneva are implemented. A lot will depend on what happens during the next two months."

The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE have agreed to meet again, in Geneva, on 19-21 April.

"In terms of the final statement, it appears that both the government and LTTE are merely reiterating everything that they were originally supposed to uphold under the ceasefire agreement," Saravanamuttu concluded. He said that the government must be called upon to explain what measures they undertook with regards to Karuna.

Nevertheless, not everybody adopted a positive outlook. Veerasingham Anandasangaree, leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front, expressed disappointment at the Geneva results. He said the LTTE will now return to Jaffna and start harassing the people again.

On other fronts, there was general satisfaction at the scheduling of a second round of talks. "I had very limited expectations for the talks," confessed Rohan Edirisinha, a director of the CPA. "The fact that they agreed to meet again and desist from violence to me, then, is a sign that the talks were a success."

"I do feel there are tremendous challenges ahead," he warned. "The final statement says the government undertook to ensure that no armed group or person other than their security forces will carry arms or conduct armed operations. This is very ambiguous. What does it mean, especially in terms of the Karuna faction?"

"It appears that the government and LTTE have not resolved some of the difficult issues that came up at the talks," Edirisinha analysed. "These have been postponed till the next time."

Edirisinha also cautioned the public against trying to determine who conceded more at the Geneva talks, saying it won’t be helpful at this juncture. "It is vital that the government builds up a relationship that will help move the peace process forward,"he said. "The two sides have had frank discussion and have not attempted to sweep difficult issues under the carpet. They have thrashed out their differences openly, let off steam, and this is probably a healthy development."

Commenting on the final communiqu`E9, he said: "It is a very basic statement. I wouldn’t read too much into it."

Anandasangaree lashed out at both parties to the negotiations. "I think the government and LTTE have jointly subjugated the Tamil people," he fumed. "From now on, the Tamil people must protest against both the government and LTTE."

Elaborating, Anandasangaree explained that the ceasefire agreement had helped the LTTE enter Jaffna and completely control the Tamils. "Our people can’t open their mouths to utter a word against the LTTE," he said. "The GA (government agent) is under their control. What happened to the man who voted at the last election? The LTTE cut off his finger. There is no breathing space for our people, no liberation."

"Despite these circumstances, the government has agreed to renew the ceasefire agreement and make it newly operative," he said. "As a result, the LTTE cadres who ran away from Jaffna a few months ago are coming back and ruling Jaffna."

At his concluding press conference, Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s chief negotiator, indicated that the LTTE may redeploy unarmed political cadres in government areas of the north and east. They had been withdrawn last year due to an escalation in attacks by the Karuna faction.

Commenting on a Tiger pledge to release all cadres under the age of 18, Anandasangaree said: "What about children recruited four years ago, at the start of the truce? Some of them may be over eighteen now. They will not be released. The government should have insisted that the LTTE unconditionally releases all children enlisted after the ceasefire agreement was signed."

"And what about the adults who have been abducted?" he asked. "The SLMM has itself said over 600 people have been abducted. What about them? The LTTE is only worried about the seven TRO (Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation) employees who were living on funds sucked from abroad."

"The LTTE now have a free licence to do anything," Anandasangaree lamented. "Nobody can talk about the abduction of adults till the next meeting. The government has helped the LTTE to come back with their heads raised. They got everything they wanted."

A senior United National Party parliamentarian said on condition of anonymity that the real achievement of last week’s session was the fixing of dates for a second round. "On other matters, it seems that the LTTE has prevailed on every point," he asserted.

His contention was that the Tigers had escalated violence against the army, police and navy and, then, made that a bargaining chip in Geneva. "They said they would desist from violence if the government reins in armed elements," he pointed out. "The government had to do this in order to stop the violence that the LTTE had started."

"At the end of the day, the LTTE used muscle to get the government delegation to cave in," he assessed.

He also noted that the government had wanted to amend the ceasefire but "that didn’t work at all". Instead, the LTTE had threatened to walk out – as reported by Agence France Press – forcing the government concede.

R Yogarajan, Ceylon Workers Congress parliamentarian, said his party was encouraged that the Geneva meet had ended with the prospect of reconvening in April. "A lot of people thought the negotiations would break down on the first day," he asserted. "The opening statements of the government and LTTE were very frank. In spite of this, however, the two parties are going forward."

"We must analyse the situation from what happens now onwards," he insisted.

Representatives of the Muslim community repeated their call for a separate delegation, at least to the next round. "Considering all the circumstances and background, we can be satisfied of this small step forward," said Javid Yusuf, head of the Muslim Peace Secretariat. "Firstly, both sides have agreed to conform to the ceasefire agreement. Secondly, they will meet again and review the implementation of their obligations during the preceding two months."