Norway continues peace efforts in Sri Lanka

Norwegian facilitators in Sri Lanka were continuing their efforts to break the current deadlock in the government-Tamil Tiger rebel negotiating process, Sri Lankan officials close to the peace process said on Monday.

The peace talks between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) and government scheduled to take place in Geneva on April 24- 25 came a cropper as the two sides bickered over the facilitation of the rebels' east based cadres traveling to the north to consult the Tiger leadership.

Sri Lankan officials said Jon Hanssen-Bauer, the Norwegian special envoy, has remained in Colombo with a view to breaking the deadlock in order to see the two sides going to Geneva at the earliest given opportunity.

The LTTE was expected to respond officially by late Monday to the government's latest offer to give them air transport by using a privately-owned helicopter.

Hanssen-Bauer had originally scheduled to leave for London on Friday to meet the LTTE theoritician Anton Balasingham.

Meanwhile, defense officials said that at least five more people had been killed in the north and east regions in the continuation of violence.

Two police guards were killed in the northern town of Vavuniya, two LTTE cadres murdered in the eastern district of Batticaloa, and also in Batticaloa district, an employee attached to the education department was shot dead.

A claymore mine blamed on the LTTE exploded in Nelliady in Jaffna but there were no casualties. All incidents took place in the morning hours of Monday.

At least 14 people were killed in sporadic incidents of violence throughout the troubled Northern and Eastern provinces on Sunday, said the government.

Nearly 100 people have now been killed since April 7 when the current cycle of violence began its movement.

Source: Xinhua