Colombo, June 22: Peace broker Norway is set for a fresh attempt to revive Sri Lanka's faltering peace process after a string of setbacks threatened to return the Island to war, officials and diplomats said today. Norwegian diplomats were due to hold talks with the London-based top Tamil Tiger negotiator, Anton Balasingham, on moves to end the deadlock in the peace process, diplomatic sources said.
On Friday, Balasingham demanded a "radical overhaul" of the entire peace process and rejected Sri Lanka's latest overtures to revive talks. Balasingham said he would take up the matter with the Norwegians, who were invited by both parties to "facilitate" talks and arrange a ceasefire that has been in place since February 2002.
"There was some concern at one point that the tigers were not interested in Norwegian facilitation, but the recent statements have indicated that they still envisage a role for Oslo," a diplomatic source here said. Officials said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who is visiting London from today was also likely to hold talks with Norwegians involved in the peace process.
A newspaper here said Colombo's chief negotiator G L Peiris was in London with the Prime Minister and the two were expected to hold talks with Norwegian deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Friday rejected Wickremesinghe's offer of political power and said it wanted the peace agenda "redefined." Bureau Report