Karunanidhi: only ceasefire in Lanka will satisfy us

The crux of the resolution at the all-party meeting was that there should be a ceasefire between the Lankan military and the LTTE, he said.

Asked about Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa8217;s remarks in Delhi last week that he was duty-bound to protect the lives of Tamils but wanted to eliminate terrorists, Karunanidhi said his party8217;s demand was that the Lankan security forces should not create problems for Tamils in the guise of fighting LTTE.

8220;Innocent Tamils have been severely affected in the attacks by the Sri Lankan forces,8221; he said.

When asked whether he had any plans to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue, Karunanidhi said he had already spoken and written to him. Moreover, DMK representatives in the Union Cabinet 8212; T R Baalu and A Raja 8212; were constantly interacting with the Centre and the Prime Minister.

When pointed out that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had not yet spoken on the issue, he said the DMK was taking up the issue with the Government. 8220;If we wanted to take up the issue with the Congress party, we would have discussed it with her,8221; Karunanidhi said.

Asked about the statement of PMK founder leader Dr S Ramadoss that the Sri Lankan Tamils issue should be taken to the UN Security Council, Karunanidhi said that he had read about it statement only on Sunday morning.

8220;There are many opinions like this and I will examine all of them after returning to Chennai,8221; he said.