WHEN SRI LANKAN government and Tamil Tiger negotiating teams sat down this week at Thailand's Sattahip Naval Base, the seclusion was deliberate. What is clear from any examination of this latest effort to solve a decades-long conflict is the extent to which this process requires the patience and support of every Sri Lankan.
The peace process, hailed as the best chance for Sri Lanka, carries deadly risks and poses excruciating dilemmas for all involved.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe risks assassination or the dissolution of his government. President Chandrika Kumaratunga faces constitutional change which could slash her powers. The leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Prabhakaran, faces a juncture where his movement must change profoundly if it is to survive.
And the millions of Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and other Sri Lankans who have shown a growing acceptance of how much must be given away to save their country must continue to do so.
If the talks fail, the ethnic separatist war could resume. Despite such challenges, analysts and the talks' participants are united in seeing this peace process as offering the best prospect of success.
It is not merely that the world is less tolerant of vicious terror networks and suicide bombers. Far more important is the commitment of the 10-month-old Colombo government to find a solution, the much-praised role of the Norwegian facilitators, the recognition by the Tigers and government that more war would solve nothing, the acceptance of the need for new political initiatives, and crucially, the widespread war weariness.
