The Hindu : International : Norwegian envoy to meet LTTE leaders

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 23, 2007
ePaper

International

International

Norwegian envoy to meet LTTE leaders

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: The Norwegian envoy here is scheduled to travel on Monday to Kilinochchi, administrative headquarters of the LTTE to meet its leaders, for an assessment of the situation.

In recent weeks, the Sri Lanka military and the Tigers have been engaged in intense fighting in the north and east. The mission of the envoy is to gauge the mood in the LTTE camp.

Diplomatic and political observers are of the view that given the intensity of the hostilities and absence of any meeting ground between the two sides, there is little scope for any new initiative to halt the hostilities and resume peace talks.

The Sri Lanka Government has dismissed reports in a section of the media that Norway, the official facilitator of the peace talks, has conveyed any suggestions on re-starting the stalled dialogue.

A section in the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government is clearly annoyed with Norway, as it believes that Oslo is doing little to pressure the Tigers to tone down their confrontationist approach and create an atmosphere for resumption of talks.

Separately, the Media Centre for National Security said six militants were killed in sporadic clashes in the last 24 hours in the north and east.

In a statement, the MCNS said five LTTE cadres were believed killed by security forces at various locations along the Forward Defence Line (FDL) in Vavuniya.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International