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N Sathiya Moorthy in Chennai
The Pattali Makkal Katchi on Friday advised the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam not to seek a base in Tamil Nadu for conducting further peace negotiations with the Sri Lankan government.
"Even the LTTE may not want to have the talks in Chennai as it has lost its sympathisers here," the party founder, Dr S Ramadoss, told newsmen in Chennai.
"The political climate in the state is not conducive for the LTTE, and major political parties are not in favour of the organisation seeking to negotiate out of Tamil Nadu. That being the case, it will be advisable for the LTTE not to seek residence for its ideologue-cum-chief negotiator Anton Balasingham in Chennai, or use Tamil Nadu as a base for the talks," Dr Ramadoss said.
"The PMK will go by whatever decision the Centre took in the matter," he added.
"However, we are not clear on what role India could play in resolving the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka," he said, reiterating the party's demand to lift the ban on the Tamil militant outfit.
"We are firm in our demand for the Centre lifting the ban," he said.
With the PMK coming out against LTTE seeking a base in Tamil Nadu, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazham has been the only NDA partner from Tamil Nadu supporting Indian facilitation for the peace process in Sri Lanka.
The former Tamil Nadu chief minister and president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, M Karunanidhi, has already left it to the Vajpayee government to decide on the fate of Indian facilitation.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has also been unequivocal in the state government's opposition to any such facilitation from the Indian side.
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