THAILAND: Thailand will host the first face-to-face peace talks in seven years between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels in a bid to end nearly two decades of bloody conflict, a Norwegian envoy said on yesterday.
The announcement in Bangkok followed a meeting between the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Vida Helgesen, and the Thai Foreign Minister, Mr Surakiart Sathirathai, who said the talks could start in a month.
"The government of Thailand has, on the request of the government of Norway, accepted to provide the venue for negotiations between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam," Mr Helgesen told reporters.
"Both parties to the conflict have agreed in holding the talks in Thailand," Mr Helgesen said.
The discussions could end a conflict that began in 1983 and has claimed more than 64,000 lives.
Four previous peace bids have collapsed in bloodbaths with each side blaming the other for scuttling the talks.
But the latest talks could be the best chance of ending the conflict because a ceasefire with monitors is in place and Norway is acting as a go-between at the request of both sides.
"The negotiations will aim at reaching a political settlement to the conflict in Sri Lanka . . . The place and date for commencement of the talks are yet to be decided by the parties."
Mr Surakiart hinted the talks may begin soon.
"We are not involved in the talks process. The timing depends on Norway and Sri Lanka, we have nothing to do with that. But the Norwegian deputy foreign minister told me the talks would be in the next month," Mr Surakiart said.
The Sri Lankan government said on Wednesday peace talks were expected to begin in the first week of May.
"The time is now opportune for negotiations. We want to rapidly commence these talks," the Sri Lankan government spokesman and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Mr G.L. Peiris, said in Colombo this week.
The government also said it was ready to meet conditions set by the rebels who insist that legal recognition of their organisation and a full implementation of the Norwegian truce deal must precede negotiations.
The initial discussions would be "talks about talks" to set the agenda for full negotiations to end the ethnic blood-letting, Mr Peiris said.