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Colombo restraint hailed by U.S.

V.S. Sambandan

Colombo: The U.S. has welcomed the agreement between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to hold talks next month in Switzerland.

"The U.S. commends the Sri Lankan Government for its restraint in the face of recent provocative attacks and fully supports its efforts as it advances towards peace," said the U.S. Department of State in a statement.

Washington also commended Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim "for his effort to advance this positive development" and said it "fully supports Norway's facilitation of the peace process."

In a statement, the Swiss Foreign Ministry expressed its willingness to host the talks and said it would provide Norway "its utmost support." Welcoming the decision, the Japanese Government said it "strongly hopes that escalating violence in the north and east will be stopped and actual talks between the Government and the LTTE will commence at the earliest possible date."

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