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Lankan govt, LTTE peace talks may take place in Oslo

COLOMBO: Peace talks between Sri Lanka's government and Tamil Tiger rebels might take place in Oslo after Norway indicated its willingness to broker peace between the warring sides, state media and officials said on Sunday.

They said no time frame for talks had yet been set but Norway was willing to present to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the government's proposed constitutional reforms aimed at a political solution to the conflict.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek was in Colombo last week for discussions with the government and main opposition United National Party (UNP) over the possibility of starting peace talks with the rebels.

Vollebaek, who met a senior LTTE leader in London just before his trip to Sri Lanka, said the two sides had asked Norway to try to bring them together. Norway helped broker the landmark 1993 peace accords between Israelis and Palestinians.

The LTTE has been fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983.

Nearly 60,000 people have been killed in the war that has continued despite attempts to find a negotiated solution.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga has proposed a new constitution that would devolve more power to the region, including one administered by Tamils, partly meeting the LTTE demand for a homeland.

Political sources said Norway was willing to carry the reform proposals to the LTTE provided there was a consensus over them between the ruling People's Alliance and the UNP.

Sri Lanka's two main political parties have in the past bickered over the peace package, prepared five years ago and presented to a parliamentary select committee in 1997.

Kumaratunga has invited the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for talks on the draft document this week and the two parties are to meet on Tuesday.

Wickremesinghe has promised Kumaratunga support on the constitutional package, but said any changes in the earlier draft would force his party to reconsider its decision.

Vollebaek said the conflict in Sri Lanka could only be ended through political means, adding that it will be difficult.

Kumaratunga launched peace talks with the LTTE soon after winning power in 1994, but negotiations collapsed in 1995 and the war has escalated since.

It's only the second time in Sri Lanka's long conflict that a foreign nation has become involved in peace efforts.

Neighbouring India last tried to broker peace in 1987 and sent its troops to disarm the rebels. The LTTE instead took on the Indian army, which eventually left Sri Lanka three years later.-Reuters