Washington, Nov 04: A first-ever blueprint for peace unveiled by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels is "significant" and "comprehensive" but oversteps internationally endorsed guidelines for a settlement, a top US official has said. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said yesterday after meeting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe here that an adapted version of the power-sharing plan could provide the basis for progress after a vicious civil war.

The meeting laid the groundwork for Wickremesinghe's meeting with President George W Bush tomorrow, and as peace broker Norway Labours to set up new face to face talks between the Colombo government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Armitage said the Tigers' proposals unveiled last week were the first time he had seen such a "comprehensive deliniation of the aspirations of the LTTE." "I think it is significant," he said.

But he cautioned that the blueprint "does go outside" declarations by Sri Lanka and the international community on guidelines for a final settlement after peace conferences in Oslo in 2002 and Tokyo earlier this year.

"It is significant and it may form the basis for a way forward for a process but I would say that we need to come back towards the boundaries envisioned by Oslo," Armitage said. Bureau Report