Washington, Nov 15: The United States has urged the President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to work together to bolster the peace process with the LTTE, and urged peace broker Norway to resume mediation once the leaders have resolved their political differences. "We are disappointed that Norway's negotiators have found it impossible to move forward with the Sri Lankan peace process at this time," State Department Deputy Spokesman J Adam Ereli said.
"We applaud Norway's efforts to keep the peace process moving forward, and we encourage their mediators to continue efforts once the President and Prime Minister have resolved their political differences.
"We continue to stand behind Sri Lanka in its search for peace, and encourage the government to continue negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in order to end nearly 20 years of conflict. We urge the President and the Prime Minister to work together to bolster the peace process, and to protect Sri Lanka's democratic institutions," he said.
Norway yesterday said it would suspend its peace brokering role in the country until the power struggle between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was resolved.
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen said they needed "clarity" regarding who was actually responsible for the peace process from the Colombo government's side before they could resume their efforts.
Bureau Report