— PHOTO: AP

PUSHING FOR PEACE: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa greets U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs Richard Boucher at the President House in Colombo on Thursday.

COLOMBO: Amid continuing violence, the Sri Lanka Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are preparing the ground for fresh talks in Switzerland on October 28 and 29.

Indications of the readiness of both parties to sit for talks were available at meetings between visiting Japanese Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher at various levels.

Both envoys, along with the Norwegian Special Envoy, were of the view that talks will be held as per schedule despite the deadly violence in the last few days.

"The only issue that remains now pertains to mode of transport for the LTTE delegation. Of course, the agenda and the outcome are altogether a different matter," a senior western diplomat told The Hindu .

The Mahinda Rajapaksa Government has set an ambitious seven-point agenda for the talks, which includes "pluralism and human rights." Observers, however, are sceptical about the real progress on such contentious subjects.

"We all want them at the negotiating table in the hope that it would lead to de-escalation of tensions paving way for a better environment for meaningful engagement with each other," the diplomat said.

"Got commitments"

Mr. Akashi said after a visit to Kilinochchi: "We obtained commitments from Mr. Thamilchelvan that the LTTE has prepared to go in for talks. I have insisted on the importance of both sides to end all acts of violence and create an atmosphere for peaceful, sincere and honest discussions."

One Geneva meeting would not deliver total and durable peace. Several meetings were needed.

Both parties should be patient and flexible in their attitudes, but they should feel free to discuss anything and everything in their minds, he said.

Mr. Boucher, who arrived here earlier in the day, met Mr. Rajapaksa. His agenda includes meetings with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Leader of the Opposition and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. After the meetings, he will go to Trincomalee and local government officials and civic leaders.

`Two soldiers killed'

Amid these developments, the military said two soldiers were killed in a mine blast on Thursday morning at Thandikulam in Vavuniya.

In another incident, the military said, a "cowardly attempt" of the LTTE to commit a mass murder of civilians in the south was averted. Bomb disposal experts of the Army discovered a Claymore mine, weighing 8 kg and covered in a plastic bag, on the Kandy road.

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