Norwegian deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen flew to Sri Lanka's rebel-held north Wednesday for talks on the crisis situation that has emerged on the proposed government-Tamil Tiger joint deal on tsunami relief.

Helgesen departed by helicopter to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held Kilinochchi for talks with the rebel political leadership, government officials said on condition of anonymity.

Having arrived here on Monday for a 5-day visit, Helgesen held talks with the main Muslim party on the proposed joint mechanism with the LTTE.

Both the opposition and ruling party Muslim allies are deeply concerned over what they termed an effort by the parties concerned to keep the Muslims away from playing any key role in the joint mechanism.

Helgesen had told Rauff Hakeem, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, that no changes to final draft could now be made, which means in effect shutting the doors completely on the prospect of Muslims becoming a signatory to the mechanism.

Helgesen's talks with the LTTE leadership would be crucial to addressing Muslim concerns as Muslim dominated areas in the eastern province are badly affected by the tsunamis last December, the government officials said.

Political analysts note that any failure to accommodate Muslim concerns could result in that the President Chandrika Kumaratunga government's Muslim allies quitting the government add to the President's woes over her main coalition partner, the JVP or the People's Liberation Front.

The JVP quitted the government on June 16 due to its stiff opposition to the controversial joint mechanism with the Tamil Tigers for tsunami relief co-ordination in the north and east.

The JVP gave a deadline of June 15 to Kumaratunga to give up her plan to implement a joint mechanism with the Tigers, and they described the mechanism as one which would confer legitimacy to a terrorist group.

Source: Xinhua