ULFA rejects mediator, denies feelers to govt

The ULFA chief’s reaction came after Jahnu Barua held a press conference here on Tuesday and said he was willing to mediate between the government and the ULFA. Journalist Sanjay Hazarika and Jnanpith award winner novelist Indira Goswami had also offered to mediate between the government and the outfit.

The ULFA leader dismissed Hazarika as an ‘‘agent’’ of RAW and said it was unfortunate that Jahnu Barua had fallen into Hazarika’s trap. ‘‘Barua is an accomplished filmmaker and he should not join hands with Hazarika who is a RAW agent,’’ the ULFA leader said. ‘‘There are a lot of issues which we think can be settled through negotiations. We are not opposed to talks but the government should be sincere first.’’

The Chief Minister had said on Wednesday that a senior ULFA leader had approached him, saying the outfit was willing to start negotiations with the government. Gogoi did not identify the leader but said it was a ‘‘very encouraging signal’’ from the ULFA.

The ULFA has been advocating talks in a ‘‘third’’ (read foreign) country as has been done in the case of the NSCN(I-M), apart from involving a representative of the UN. The government has turned down both conditions.