The Sri Lankan police blamed the Tamil Tigers for the deaths of four policemen in a claymore mine explosion in the Eastern Province Thursday as the Norwegian peace facilitators began a fresh effort to revive the stalled peace negotiations.

The blast went off around 7:00 a.m. local time (0130 GMT) at Kathamnkudy in the Batticaloa district, the police said, adding that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was behind the attack.

In Colombo, the police emergency unit said that a street in the busy downtown area housing the high rise World Trade Center twin towers and the Bank of Ceylon headquarters remained closed for all vehicles from 6:00 a.m. local time (0030 GMT) until further notice.

"No vehicles will be allowed to enter the street and everyone entering will be body checked," a police spokesman said on condition of anonymity. He said the move came after an intelligence warning.

Norway's special peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer was due to meet later on Thursday with the head of the government peace secretariat Palitha Kohona to discuss the future of the stalled peace negotiations.

Bauer arrived on Wednesday and is to be joined here on Friday by the Norwegian minister of International Development Erik Solheim.

The government said the Norwegians' visits are meant to kick off the process as the government was still committed to the negotiating process in spite of the upsurge of violence in which over 250 people have been killed since the beginning of April.

The Minister of Policy Planning and the government's defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said that indications from the rebel behavior suggest that very little could be achieved from the visit.

The Norwegian embassy in Sri Lanka said at a press release that Solheim will meet the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday.

Later the same day, Solheim will proceed to New Dehli to discuss the situation in Sri Lanka with the Indian authorities.

"The situation in Sri Lanka is complicated, and it is important not to have unrealistic expectations of the meetings. The visits are an important part of the preparations for the Co-chairs Meeting in Japan, and we will have talks with both parties," Solheim was quoted by the release as saying.

Solheim will attend the Co-chairs Meeting in Tokyo on May 30. The meeting will bring together representatives of the EU, Japan, the U.S. and Norway for talks on how they can best assist the parties in Sri Lanka in furthering the peace process.

Source: Xinhua