Norway To Launch Fresh Talks With Sri Lankan Rebels To Save Peace
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Colombo, Sri Lanka (AHN) - Norway will launch fresh negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the hope of salvaging the volatile peace process ahead of the September 1 deadline set by the rebels for European ceasefire monitors to leave the country. Special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer is expected to arrive in Colombo in the early part of August to hold talks with the Sri Lankan government and the rebel LTTE. Norwegian embassy spokesman Eric Nurnberg said Wednesday, "It is not surprising that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission is definitely going to be the main issue discussed." Reportedly, the Tigers have been demanding the Swedish-led SLLM to get out of the country after expressing doubts on the neutrality of the mission. The SLMM, comprising of Denmar, Finland and Sweden, outlawed the Tigers in May. However, the European Union fear the peace process in the country would collapse if the mission would withdraw. Last week, the rebels reiterated their call for the mission to leave the country before September 1 to visiting Swedish envoy Anders Oljelund. Hanssen-Bauer would try to persuade the Tigers to drop their demand or at least pull off the deadline to give Norway more time to reorganize the SLLM.
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