The National Peace Council of Sri Lanka said in a media release on Friday that they believe that the agreement the Opposition UNP is entering into with the government might also contribute significantly to a fundamental change of approach on the part of the government. "NPC consistently encouraged bipartisanship between the two major political parties, and the UNP’s current willingness to work together with the government in six areas, particularly in the areas of the ethnic conflict and good governance is potentially a very positive development for which there is overwhelming public support as well. We call for a full and genuine partnership between the government and UNP at this time to generate the new approach to conflict resolution that can save the country and its people from more death, destruction and despair."

The release added:

"The high cost of the continued confrontation between the government and LTTE, and the resort to military option, has become clearer in recent days. The previous weeks saw the government utilizing the military to conflict substantial losses on the LTTE especially in the east. The National Peace Council condemned the sufferings inflicted on the civilian population, particularly on account of enforced displacement and blocking of humanitarian relief. On the other hand, the past few days have seen high costs inflicted on the government in the battle at Muhamalai, and by LTTE attacks at Dambulla and Galle which are far from the conflict zones.

"As the theatre of war expands with the government forces using aerial bombardment and the LTTE using suicide cadres the possibility of a successful peace initiative recedes and the cost of human sacrifice increases. Extreme acts of violence harden sentiments and place obstacles in the path of dialogue and encourage elements to attack innocent civilians. The Galle incident raised the possibility of mob reaction which the government was able to promptly quell on this occasion. However, this is a cause for grave concern as ethnic polarisation grows and the economic costs become more difficult for people to bear. In this context we condemn the organised attack on a peaceful meeting of the National Anti War Front in Kandy.

"The Geneva talks scheduled for October 28 and 29 offer another opportunity of a change of approach to the conflict between the government and LTTE that would help de-escalate the present undeclared war that makes a mockery of the ceasefire agreement. It is of utmost importance to the welfare of the people that the two parties opt for political means of conflict resolution and move away from very costly belief that this conflict could be resolved through military means. We appreciate the unceasing efforts of the Norwegian facilitators, and the Japanese and US peace envoys, whose presence in Sri Lanka these days have served to bolster confidence that the situation will not slide further into unrestrained violence."