Sri Lanka peace talks resume

A top Tamil Tiger rebel negotiator returned to Sri Lanka today amid new efforts by Norwegian peace brokers to revive stalled peace talks and prevent the island from sliding back to war.

After his arrival, London-based Anton Balasingham met with top Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim before being flown in a government helicopter to the northern rebel-held town of Kilinochchi, officials involved in the peace process said on condition of anonymity.

Balasingham was expected to meet with rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran ahead of talks on Thursday with a Norwegian delegation led by Foreign Minister Jan Petersen, rebel officials said.

Solheim also met today with Jayantha Dhanapala, head of the government body handling the peace process. Officials said Dhanapala raised concerns about recent violence which has threatened to derail the fragile truce.

Efforts to revive the talks have been complicated by escalating violence that has killed scores of people, including military intelligence operatives, rebels and civilians, since a major split in the rebel ranks in March.

Solheim also met with the leader of Sri Lanka’s main Muslim party and Tamil politicians, the officials said.

Solheim has played a pivotal role since Norway began efforts in 1998 to end the conflict, which has killed nearly 65,000 people. He was key to brokering a February 2002 ceasefire that halted the fighting.

However, subsequent peace talks collapsed in April 2003 amid rebel demands for wide autonomy in the Tamil-majority north and east.

Solheim also planned to meet with representatives of the US, Japan and the European Union, which were instrumental in obtaining international pledges of €3.5bn in aid to held rebuild the war-ravaged island, the officials said.

The aid is conditioned on progress in the peace talks and has been blocked since the negotiations broke down.

The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 to carve out an independent homeland for the island’s 3.2 million Tamil minority, who claim discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.