Sri Lanka, Aug. 17 -- G.L.Peiris has been a minister, was a member of parliament, and led the Sri Lanka Government's side during the talks with the Tamil LTTE from 2002 to 2004 to end the civil war. Accordingly, his narrative is authoritative and invaluable.

Starting in 1994 with Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka and continued by Ranil Wickremesinghe, the process begun in 1999, facilitated by Norway, went through six discussions in 2002/3 in Thailand, Norway, Germany and Japan. These discussions terminated after the tsunami of 2004 and civil war resumed until LTTE was defeated in 2009.

LTTE regarded the discussions as a pathway to international acceptance, and was insincere in exploration of federalism, and the govern...