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Sri Lanka signs tsunami aid deal with Tamil Tiger rebels
Sri Lanka has signed a controversial tsunami aid sharing deal with Tamil
Tiger rebels despite opposition from the island's main Marxist party, government
minister Maithripala Sirisena said. "The secretary to the ministry of rehabilitation, M. S. Jayasinghe, signed on behalf of the government, and we are awaiting a signed copy from the Tigers," Sirisena told reporters in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. The document, after being signed by Jayasinghe, was taken by Norwegian diplomats to the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi for signing by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources said. Details of the proposed Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) were unveiled in parliament after months of secret talks with the help of peace broker Norway. Several groups have attacked the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga for agreeing to the deal, which critics see as granting the separatists too much legitimacy. The Marxist JVP, or People's Liberation Front, disrupted parliamentary debate on the controversial issue when the document was released ahead of debate in the Assembly, and the sitting ended in chaos. The government responded to the uproar in parliament by postponing assembly sittings until July 5. However, the delay has no bearing on concluding the deal as it does not require approval by parliament, a government minister said. The JVP quit the ruling coalition last week protesting the deal to jointly handle tsunami aid and vowed to launch nationwide protests. The P-TOMS, or joint mechanism, will be in three tiers with a three-member panel -- comprising one representative each from the government, the Tigers and the minority Muslim community -- at the top. A mid-level structure known as the Regional Committee within the P-TOMS will be dominated by the rebels, who will have five seats while the government will have two and Muslims three. The P-TOMS will have an international lender as the custodian of foreign aid. Donors had insisted on the joint mechanism so that they could channel aid through the new fund rather than directly to the guerrillas. Several countries have outlawed the LTTE and cannot give money directly to them. The mechanism will be funded through foreign aid, the document released in parliament said. "The parties shall appoint a suitable multilateral agency to be the custodian of the regional fund," it said. The parties and the custodian are to agree on a way to spend the money. The two parties, it said, "resolved to work together, in good faith and using their best efforts, to deliver expeditious relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction and development to the coastal communities". Most of the tsunami destruction was in the island's embattled north and east, much of which is dominated by the Tigers. There are hopes that an aid deal could pave the way for a resumption of overall peace talks. But involving the Tigers in aid-sharing is controversial since critics see it as giving them de facto recognition. Outside the tightly-guarded parliament building, police used teargas to disperse hundreds of JVP supporters who tried to march to the assembly. There was a similar demonstration in the island's north-eastern district of Trincomalee.
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