Sri Lanka’s peacebroker Norway and the country’s main financial backer Japan are due to step up diplomatic efforts to salvage a faltering peace process, officials and diplomats said Sunday(24).
Japan’s peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, is due to visit the island this week to try to nudge Tamil Tiger rebels and the Colombo government to resume stalled negotiations, Asian diplomats said.
Government officials said Norway’s peace envoy Erik Solheim was also expected early next month while US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage plans to visit Sri Lanka after the US presidential elections.
Armitage has taken what he has called a "hands-on" interest in the fragile peace process since Oslo brokered a truce between the Tigers and Colombo in February 2002.
The intensified international diplomacy comes amid Sri Lankan government optimism that the talks, on hold since April 2003, could begin next month with Colombo making a fresh proposal to revive the process.
However, the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last week rejected Colombo’s proposals to revive negotiations and played down prospects of resuming talks next month.
The LTTE said they would open talks only on the basis of a self-rule plan seeking an "Interim Self-Governing Authority" in embattled areas.
"It’s unlikely we can expect any early breakthrough," an Asian diplomat said. "What we’ll see is a lot of talk about talks. The challenge is to ensure the ceasefire is maintained."
The Tigers have recently faced international criticism over a wave of assassinations. They have denied involvement and have accused the military of supporting a breakaway rebel faction to undermine the peace process.
Peacebroker Norway has also warned of a danger of the country slipping back to war, a fear echoed by a visiting Swiss delegation earlier this month.
Japan’s Akashi wrapped up his last visit to Sri Lanka in May, urging Colombo and the Tigers to "give and take" in their negotiations.
He ruled out quick resumption of talks, saying they might take place in the summer. "They want time to reflect on the contents of the negotiations. It’s important to have stable and fruitful discussions," he said then.(AFP)
President Chandrika Kumaratunga has invited the rebels to discuss setting up a federal state in exchange for peace. But her government’s main coalition partner, the Marxist JVP, opposes territorial concessions to the Tigers.
Opposition parties have demanded a united front to push ahead with the peace process. Suspension of the peace process has also affected foreign aid flows as most aid has been linked to progress on the peace front.
