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Oslo team meets Chandrika

By V. S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, MAY 2. Six months after the Norwegian facilitators put Sri Lanka's peace process on hold, a five-member Oslo team, led by the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Vidar Helgesen, today met the Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, "to discuss issues relating to the commencement of the negotiations'' between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The Presidential Secretariat described the meeting, held in the hill-town Nuwara Eliya in central Sri Lanka, as "constructive and cordial'' and focussing on "a range of issues related to the modalities and substance of the negotiation process.''

In addition, "the need to commence development work in the North and East without delay, with full participation of the LTTE," figured in the exchange of views, the President's Office said.

During the discussions, Ms. Kumaratunga also explained to the Norwegian delegation the institutional arrangements that are being established to guide and implement the development programmes of the North and East and the negotiation process.

While the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, and the Foreign Secretary, S. Pallihakkara, assisted the President in the discussions, the Oslo's Special Adviser to the peace process, Erik Solheim, the Norwegian Ambassador in Colombo, Hans Brattskar, and two other officials from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry were in Mr. Helgesen's team.

The Norwegian embassy said the meeting was "extensive and constructive'' with "initial consultations'' on "all aspects of the peace process.'' The Norwegian delegation "will continue the consultations'' with the LTTE tomorrow "to explore the possibilities of recommencing direct peace negotiations'' between Colombo and the Tigers, the embassy said.

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