Norway, Japan move to salvage Lankan talks

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."

Both sides have pledged to uphold the truce but the government has accused the Tigers of killing more than 250 of their opponents in breach of the ceasefire.