DAVAO CITY, Philippines?An international group of peace advocates currently in Mindanao has advised against the so-called Sri Lankan Solution to end the armed conflict and rebellion in the region.

Sri Lankan Professor Amal Jayawardane, executive director of the Regional Center for Strategic Studies based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, said the Sri Lankan solution should not be a model for other nations seeking to achieve peace in their respective areas.

The military victory of the Sri Lankan government over the rebel Tamil Tigers is now touted by military hardliners and hawks as a model for resolving festering armed conflicts in the world, according to a statement of the European Center for Conflict Prevention and the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID).

?In fact, some government and military officials in the Philippines have been advocating the same ?Sri Lanka solution? in ending the armed insurgencies in the country,? the statement said.

Jayawardane, who is among the delegates to the peace mission initiated by the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), met with peace advocates from Mindanao for a learning session on peace building last October 1.

The learning session was attended by participants from Burma, South Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, and Vietnam. GPPAC South Asia, Caucasus, Western Balkans, and West Africa and the European Centre for Conflict Prevention, GPPAC Global Secretariat also took part in the session with members of the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW), an organization of civil society groups in Mindanao and Manila active in conflict prevention and peace building.

In May this year, the Government of Sri Lanka declared victory over the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) when they captured the last remaining LTTE stronghold and killed their leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

This ended decades of bloody civil war, but Jayawardane said that the fall of LTTE did not address the root causes of the conflict.

?It is essential to find a political solution for these urgently,? Jayawardane said.
Jayawardane said other areas dealing with conflict could learn from the experience of Sri Lanka?because of the disengagement of the LTTE from the peace negotiations, the government was left with no other option than an all-out military response.

Apparently addressing the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the communist New People?s Army, the armed wing of the National Democratic Front, Jayawardane said: ?If you want to prevent what happened in Sri Lanka from happening to you, it is essential to continue to engage in dialogue.?

He also said that the Philippine government must not cease seeking a peaceful remedy to the conflict through dialogue.

The GPPAC is a world-wide civil society network that works to promote conflict prevention and peace building. The Davao-based IID is the Regional Initiator of GPPAC in Southeast Asia.

From September 30 to October 7, members of the GPPAC will be visiting conflict-affected villages of Mindanao to interact with people affected by armed conflict. They are also holding meetings with top government officials, local government unit officials, military, and leaders of armed groups.