Washington, Nov 15: The United States has urged the
President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to work together
to bolster the peace process with the LTTE, and urged peace
broker Norway to resume mediation once the leaders have
resolved their political differences.
"We are disappointed that Norway's negotiators have found
it impossible to move forward with the Sri Lankan peace
process at this time," State Department Deputy Spokesman J
Adam Ereli said.
"We applaud Norway's efforts to keep the peace process
moving forward, and we encourage their mediators to continue
efforts once the President and Prime Minister have resolved
their political differences.
"We continue to stand behind Sri Lanka in its search for
peace, and encourage the government to continue negotiations
with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in order to end
nearly 20 years of conflict. We urge the President and the
Prime Minister to work together to bolster the peace process,
and to protect Sri Lanka's democratic institutions," he said.
Norway yesterday said it would suspend its peace
brokering role in the country until the power struggle between
President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was resolved.
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen said
they needed "clarity" regarding who was actually responsible
for the peace process from the Colombo government's side
before they could resume their efforts.
Bureau Report
