Thursday, October 21, 2004

Norwegians not aware of govt. counter proposals by Sunimalee Dias

The Norwegian facilitators have conveyed to the LTTE that they are not aware of any counter proposal by the government and if there were any such proposals they could place them at the negotiating table.

This was communicated to the LTTE when Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim met LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham on Monday in London. Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattsker was also present at the meeting. When Balasingham questioned about media reports concerning the government's alternative proposals, Solheim had replied saying that according to their knowledge there was no such proposals but the alternative proposals of the government might be placed on the negotiating table if there were any.

Commenting later Mr. Balasingham has said that Norway was optimistic that no alternative proposals would be given by the government before resuming peace talks.

During the meeting Norwegians had also briefed Balasingham of views held by Indian, US and Canadian governments regarding the peace process.

Prior to the meeting Norwegians have also briefed British Foreign Ministry officials about the meeting. Meanwhile, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen is expected in Colombo during the 1st week of November on the invitation of the President Chandrika Kumaratunga. He is also expected to meet the LTTE in Kilinochchi during his visit.