KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, Nov 2 (Reuters) - One of Sri Lanka's most successful bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan, on Tuesday urged the government and Tamil Tiger rebels to resume stalled talks to turn a truce into lasting peace after two decades of civil war.
Spin bowler Muralitharan, a Tamil himself, made his plea during a three-day tour of the war-torn north with representatives of the United Nation's World Food Programme and foreign donors.
The tour included a visit to the political and administrative stronghold of the Tamil Tigers, whose bloody war for autonomy killed more than 64,000 and ruined swathes of the north and east.
"As a sportsman, all I can say is that Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims come together to play cricket side by side," Muralitharan said after a one-hour meeting with Sudha Master, the deputy political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"Likewise, the politicians and the LTTE must come together and make peace for the good of this country's people," he told Reuters after seeing the destruction caused by years of fighting.
"The LTTE is willing to come to the peace table and, although I don't know about the government's position or the procedures involved, the people of the south want peace. The government must fulfil their wishes and come for negotiations."
Cricket is an exceedingly popular sport in Sri Lanka, enthusiastically played by Tamils and Sinhalese alike.
Muralitharan has used a break from international cricket after a shoulder operation in August to focus on humanitarian work in disadvantaged communities in Sri Lanka's rural areas.
The 32-year-old was invited to the northern towns of Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya as a "partner against hunger" by the United Nation's World Food Pragramme, which is providing aid to thousands of the war's innocent victims.
Muralitharan has just returned to Sri Lanka, after a global tour to raise funds, to raise funds for his own charity, the Gunasekera-Muralidaran Foundation, which runs about 60 community projects in the south.
A controversial off spinner who bowls with a super-flexible wrist and locked elbow, Muarlitharan broke Courtney Walsh's 519-wicket Test record in May but since his injury has been overtaken by Australia's Shane Warne.
Muralitharan will travel to Australia later in the month for a check-up of his bowling shoulder by his surgeon David Young. His rehabilitation has gone smoothly and he hopes to be fit enough to tour New Zealand in late December and January.
