COLOMBO: A delegation of MPs from the pro-LTTE Tamil National alliance (TNA) is in New Delhi to seek an audience with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They want to meet him to explain the TNA's view on the prevailing situation in the island nation.

More MPs intend to join the delegation once a meeting is fixed. The party is relying more on political channels rather than the official ones for fixing up the interaction with Dr. Singh.

"Yes, we are working on the possibility of an interaction with the Indian Prime Minister. When it materialises, it would be our endeavour to apprise Dr. Singh of the present scenario in Sri Lanka and seek a more active Indian role in bringing down the degree of hostilities and working towards resolution of the ethnic problem," a TNA MP, who did not wish to be named, told The Hindu .

According to political observers here, the TNA wish is nothing new. "The TNA made such a request during the visit here of the then External Affairs Minister last year, and reiterated the same at the time of the visit of the Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, in July. It is pending for a while. Obviously, New Delhi is yet to make a determination on the pros and cons of facilitating a meeting between TNA MPs and Dr. Singh," a Sri Lanka watcher said.

Domestic flights between Jaffna and Colombo, suspended since the first week of August, resumed on Monday.

According to Air Force spokesman Ajantha De Silva, it had been decided to have two flights a day to Jaffna from Rathmalana.

An official from Aero Lanka Pvt. Limited, which operates Serendib Air, said they would be operating flights as usual. "We have also started marketing tickets once again," he said.

The 44-seater Serendib aircraft, which took off on Monday, carried a United Nations team to Jaffna.

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