Colombo, May 30: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party today called for the review of Norway's role in the island and criticised the peace broker as a "nation of salmon eaters who have become international busy bodies." Kumaratunga's close aide, Mangala Samaraweera told reporters here that her party strongly condemned Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik's remarks in Tokyo earlier this week that Sri Lanka should be more flexible in dealing with the LTTE rebels.

"The Norwegian Prime Minister has not shown any sensitivity to the feelings of Sri Lankans," Samaraweera said, adding, "Of course we can't expect anything better from a nation of salmon-eaters who have turned into international busy bodies."

He was reacting to remarks attributed to Bondevik during a visit to Japan this week when he was asked about Kumaratunga's allegations that Norway had gone beyond their brief in Sri Lanka. "I have heard the President's statement, but it is the government that is leading the negotiating process... So I hope they will move forward," Bondevik was quoted as saying.

Asked if the cohabitation government in Sri Lanka should be more flexible in dealing with Tamil Tiger rebels, he said, "I hope so, yes."

Samaraweera said Kumaratunga will lodge a formal protest with the Norwegian king. He said the cohabitation government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe must reconsider the Norwegian role in the island. It was President Kumaratunga who initially invited Norway to help bring Tamil Tiger rebels to the peace negotiating table, but she said last week that Oslo had exceeded its brief and turned from a facilitator to an arbitrator.

Official spokesman for Kumaratunga's opposition People's Alliance, Sarath Amunugama, said the Norwegian Prime Minister had no business to discuss Sri Lanka during his Tokyo visit.

"We object to his statement that the government should be more flexible. He is not the imperial master of Sri Lanka," Amunugama said at the weekly opposition press conference here today. Bureau Report