Colombo, June 30: A Japanese envoy held talks with Tamil Tiger rebels today amid fresh efforts to revive Sri Lanka's stalled peace process, a senior official said.
Seiichiro Otsuka, Japanese ambassador in Colombo, flew to northern rebel-held territory to brief the Tigers on a recently concluded aid conference and woo them back to the negotiating table, the official involved with the peace process said on condition of anonymity.

Japan - Sri Lanka's biggest aid donor - has taken a hands-on approach toward the island's peace efforts. It hosted a major international aid conference on June 9-10 that generated pledges amounting to us$4.5 billion to rebuild the island nation despite the rebels boycotting the conference. Efforts by Japanese special envoy to Sri Lanka Yasushi Akashi to brief the rebels soon after the conference were rebuffed.

However, recent efforts by the Sri Lankan government to offer the Tigers a new proposal for an interim administrative structure _ a key rebel demand to resume peace talks have raised hopes of a n end to the deadlock.

Today's discussions were between Otsuka and S P Thamilselvan, head of the rebels' political wing. The rebels launched a violent campaign in 1983 for a separate state for the country's minority Tamils, claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese. The conflict has killed Bureau Report