Colombo - Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister, Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe, formally launched his peace initiative yesterday with a telephone request to his Norwegian counterpart to help end the island's ethnic bloodshed.
Mr Wickremesinghe said he received a positive response when he phoned the Norwegian Prime Minister, Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik, inviting Oslo to revive its efforts to help bring the rebel Tamil Tigers to the negotiating table.