Norwegian Peace Envoy arrives for further talks 
[01 Feb 2001]

Norwegian special envoy Erik Solheim arrived in Colombo yesterday to hold talks with local political leaders after a recent meeting with LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham in London, sources revealed.

Mr. Solheim is expected to meet the President and the Prime Minister. Meetings with the Foreign Minister, opposition leader and several other political leaders are also in the agenda during his brief stay here, sources said.

Meanwhile, reports from Chennai revealed that Mr. Solheim and Balasingham had discussed aspects of a Norwegian proposal for de-escalation of hostilities.

However, the LTTE has refused to sign a Memorandum of Understanding prepared by Norway to start a dialogue with the Sri Lankan government. 

The LTTE have told Norway that they would sign the agreement only after the government signed it, reports revealed.

President Kumaratunga earlier this week had stated that there would be no cease-fire before talks began. 

"The government would continue its military offensives till a lasting peace agreement had been hammered out," she said.

Calling for a definite date for negotiations, she emphasized that talks had to be on substantive political issues.

Political analysts had also reiterated the importance of weakening the LTTE militarily before any talks began.

The Tigers have always done everything possible to trick the government to agree for a cease-fire before any talks began. Especially when the troops start hammering the terrorists in the north with military offensives, they said.

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Erik Solheim meets leaders
12/01/2001