[Assam] Good, the RUBBISH news of the ULFA imposing new conditions not featuring any more. PM Singh, be BOLD and send the ULFA your letter putting the Sovereignty of Assam as the core POLITICAL issue for discussion in black and white first.

[Bartta Bistar]

Govt seeks 'consent letter' from ULFA <javascript:clippopup(1844831);>
*[ 3 Aug, 2006 1021hrs IST** IANS ]*

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GUWAHATI: New Delhi is seeking a formal letter from the outlawed United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for the release of the outfit's five top
jailed leaders and to begin direct peace talks with the rebel leadership.

National Security Adviser MK Narayanan explained the government's position
to noted Assamese writer Indira Goswami in New Delhi late Wednesday.

"The government wants a formal letter from the ULFA seeking the release of
the five jailed leaders and giving consent to sit for direct talks,"
Goswami, sought by the ULFA to mediate for talks with New Delhi, said.

"I shall be communicating the government's stand about the letter to the
ULFA leadership."

The ULFA, a rebel group fighting for an independent Assamese homeland since
1979, has offered to hold direct talks with New Delhi if five of its senior
leaders were released from jail.

The ULFA also wants the issue of sovereignty or independence to be discussed
when formal peace talks begin.

In October last year, the ULFA nominated an 11-member civil society team
called the People's Consultative Group (PCG) headed by Goswami to begin
exploratory talks with the government.

Three rounds of talks have been held between the PCG and the central
government emissaries, one of the meetings was chaired by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and another by Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

While the Prime Minister said his government was ready to discuss "all
issues" with the ULFA, the home minister reacted positively to the demand
for releasing the jailed rebels and called for restraint by both security
forces and the militants for facilitating a bilateral ceasefire.

But the peace process was threatened with security forces killing at least
16 ULFA rebels in the past three weeks.

"We are very disturbed and the government of India is to be blamed if the
peace process breaks down," Goswami said.

The ULFA is one of the most organised rebel armies in the northeast that is
home to more than 30-odd separatist groups fighting for demands ranging from
secession to more autonomy.

More than 15,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Assam since
the ULFA's inception in 1979.
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