Colombo, Nov 09: Sri Lanka's beleaguered government has asked its international backers to examine the possibility of getting President Chandrika Kumaratunga to handle the peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels, a minister said today. "The government's view is that because the Prime Minister does not have control over all aspects of the peace process ... He can't handle it any further," the government's chief peace negotiator, G. L. Peiris said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe asked the US, Japan, Norway and the European Union -- the co-chairs of the international drive to raise support for the peace bid "to explore the possibility of the President taking over the process herself", Peiris said. Bureau Report