Bangkok, Sept 22: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is eager to host the second round of peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels following successful opening negotiations here this past week, a report said on Sunday. Thaksin said the two sides were welcome to continue using the country as a venue for the next round of face-to-face talks, scheduled for October 31, aimed at bringing an end to a decades old civil war, the Bangkok Post reported.

It said Thaksin would discuss details of the next round with peace brokers Norway on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe meeting starting on Sunday in Denmark.

Representatives of Sri Lanka's government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam spent three days from last Monday holed-up in a naval base southeast of Bangkok, after which the LTTE made the shock announcement that they had dropped their demand for a separate state.
It was their first face-to-face dialogue in seven years. Bureau Report