Colombo, July 03: A Canadian envoy departed today for northern Sri Lanka for talks with a top Tamil Tiger rebel in the latest of a series of diplomatic moves to lure the rebels back into peace talks with the Sri Lankan government, an official said. The Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo, Valarie Raymond, was scheduled to hold talks with S P Thamilselvan, the head of the rebels' political wing, on the current deadlock, an official involved in the peace process said on condition of anonymity.

Rebels pulled out of peace talks in April, threatening the island's best chance for peace in two decades.


Canada is home to over 200,000 Tamils who fled Sri Lanka after anti-Tamil riots in 1983 at the outbreak of the civil war, and is believed to have been a haven for rebel supporters who collect funds for the group.
But after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, Ottawa included the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on a list of terrorist organizations and has kept the group under close scrutiny.

Raymond would be the second foreign envoy to meet with the Tigers this week.

Seiichiro Otsuka, the Japanese ambassador in Colombo, urged the rebels back to the negotiating table during a similar meeting on Monday.

The civil war, which has killed nearly 65,000 people, largely stopped after the two sides signed a Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in February 2002 and paved the way for six rounds of peace talks.

Bureau Report