M A I N   N E W S

Breakthrough in Lankan peace talks

Oslo, December 4
Sri Lankan peace talks have achieved a breakthrough with Colombo and the Tamil rebels taking up core political issues for the first time after agreeing on clearance of landmines and strengthening of truce, a negotiator said.

The first-ever formal discussion on political issues underlying the ethnic conflict had made a breakthrough, Sri Lankan leader of the delegation G.L. Peiris told reporters on the third day of talks today.

Both sides had agreed to take up political matters during their previous round of peace talks in Thailand, but it was in Oslo they got down to taking up the matter in earnest, officials said.

Mr Peiris, Sri Lanka’s Constitutional Affairs Minister, said an announcement by LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran last month that he was willing to accept regional autonomy within a country formed the basis for talks here yesterday.

The Norwegian-backed peace bid is aimed at ending decades of ethnic bloodshed in the island nation. The current round of talks will end tomorrow.

Three more monthly rounds have been scheduled till March.

Officials said today’s talks mainly focused on some of the issues taken up earlier and would try to finalise a statement to be issued by the Norwegian peace facilitators tomorrow at a joint press conference.

Mr Peiris said the political talks could be expected to bring quick results.

LTTE’s chief negotiator Anton Balasingham spoke of possible integration of their “police” with that of the regular police force of the country as part of a final settlement.

The two sides studied a presentation on the Canadian system of government yesterday.

During the talks both sides agreed to delegate to a sub- committee the task of managing $60 million to 70 million in foreign aid pledged by the international community at a meeting here on November 25, officials said. UNI