Colombo, May 14: Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen today opened talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as part of efforts to salvage the Island's troubled peace process, officials said. Petersen went in for talks with the premier shortly after he arrived here at the start of a three-day visit, officials and diplomats said, adding that he also had a meeting with opposition leader Mahinda Rajapakse.
Details of the talks were not immediately available. Petersen is expected to travel to the Island's rebel-held north tomorrow for discussions with Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, a government minister said.
Constitutional Affairs Minister G L Peiris told reporters here that the government was hopeful that Petersen's visit could help re-start the stalled peace process. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suspended their participation in the Norwegian-brokered talks on April 21 after accusing the government of failing to deliver on "critical issues."
The talks, seeking to end three decades of ethnic blood-letting that has claimed 60,000 lives, began in September. A seventh round, due on April 29, was postponed indefinitely because of the Tiger boycott.
The peace process was complicated by the medical condition of top Tiger negotiator Anton Balasingham, who was evacuated from the rebel- held north and flown to London Monday for urgent medical treatment.
However, the visiting US Assistant Secretary of State or South Asian affairs, Christina Rocca, said she did not think the process depended on one individual. Bureau Report