Sri Lankan Development Forum: key donors review international aid and maintain that a power-sharing deal with the LTTE is crucial for further assistance.
Source
Sri Lanka development hostage to war, say donors, Reuters, 29 January 2007.
Quotations
"Looking forward (we must) place the conflict at the centre of any discussion about Sri Lanka. This is not the topic for comfortable discussion but development assistance could be far more effective if the conflict subsided. The past year has not been good at all for the families of the more than 3,500 Sri Lankans killed as a result of increased conflict." Praful Patel, World Bank Vice President.
"No amount of development assistance by the United States or any other government can have any lasting impact … without finding a permanent solution to the conflict which has plagued Sri Lanka. There can be no military solution to this terrible conflict. We hope Sri Lanka will seize the opportunity to forge a power-sharing proposal that can form the basis for talks with the LTTE that can finally bring an end to conflict in Sri Lanka." Robert Blake, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka.
