"Dealing militarily with the LTTE does not in any way mean that the Government had abandoned a search for a political solution", he said.

Addressing a press conference in Colombo the Foreign Minister said abrogation of the ceasefire agreement gives the government a broader space to pursue the goal to search for a political solution involving all political parties. "Because of the CFA, other political parties remained sidelined. The CFA also reduced the country to a nominal State instead of a Sovereign State," he said.

The Government was conscious of the fact that the 13th amendment to the Constitution signed in 1987 following the Indo-Lanka Agreement still remains to be implemented, he said.

The Government wants a political solution that satisfies all minority groups and seeks the international community’s unstinted support to secure a sustainable peace, he said.

Bogollagama said that on Thursday the Government officially notified Norway of its decision to abrogate the CFA. According to the terms of Article 4:4 of the agreement the abrogation will become effective 14 days from the date of notification. Accordingly, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission too, becomes ineffective from Januray 16, he said.