GUWAHATI, India (AFP) - The government in India's restive northeastern state of Assam on Friday offered to free five jailed leaders of a separatist group in a bid to kick-start peace talks. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070810/wl_sthasia_afp/indianortheastunresttalks_070810065547
The offer to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) came in the wake of spiralling violence blamed on the outlawed group which has left 15 people dead in a week. "Let the ULFA come for direct talks with the government and if they do so, I am prepared to release five of their jailed leaders," Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi told AFP. The rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979 and had earlier sought the release of the five as a precondition for talks with India. The ULFA had also demanded that the issue of sovereignty or independence be discussed at any talks, which the government rejected. "There is no question of discussing sovereignty or independence as a precondition for talks put forward by the ULFA. We are already independent and people don't buy ULFA's theory," Gogoi said. A fragile peace process between the federal government and ULFA representatives collapsed in September last year with New Delhi accusing the rebels of stepping up violence and extortion in Assam. In August last year, the government offered a unilateral ceasefire to the ULFA for six weeks, but it was called off and military operations resumed after the outfit staged several attacks. In January, ULFA was blamed for a wave of killings in which about 80 people died, most of them Hindi-speaking migrant workers. "We were sincere in our efforts for peace and hence announced the ceasefire last year, but the ULFA failed to respect our goodwill gesture forcing us to call off the truce and resume military operations once again," the chief minister said. More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Assam during the past two decades.
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