Colombo, May 26: Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim today met a top Tamil Tiger leader in a fresh attempt to hammer out a formula to revive the peace talks between LTTE rebels and Sri Lankan government, official sources said here. Solheim, who is here to thrash out the modalities for the talks like a possible venue and date for next round of negotiations, flew to Kilinochchi and held negotiations with Tamil Tiger' political wing leader S P Tamilselvan. The outcome of the parleys was not immediately clear, but Solheim travelled to Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres north of here, in a military helicopter as part of his latest efforts to clinch a deal between the two warring sides on resuming peace talks, the sources said.
Officials close to the Norwegian-backed peace process say the two sides were about to agree two weeks ago on re-starting talks, but they were now confronted with new problems. The two sides differ on what should be on the agenda for talks, with the government insisting that elements of a final deal should be taken up while the tigers want an interim self-rule plan discussed.
There were also differences on where the talks should be held and the level of media access to be allowed. Tigers want high-profile talks staged overseas, while Colombo had wanted negotiations within the island with very little media attention.
Bureau Report