“It’s time for a stronger political engagement” – Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorbjorn Jagland 
[June 11, 2001]

“It is clear that it has come to a stage for a stronger political engagement by Norway. I am not planning to take over from anyone else. There has been progress, but to bring the process over a hump needs our high-level involvement.”  Norway’s Foreign Minister, Thorbjorn Jagland was quoted in Aftenposten, June 8 as having told AP soon after his arrival in Oslo following talks with Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

The talks with the Sri Lankan President and Foreign Minister had “covered a broad review of the status of peace efforts so that we can decide on how to move forward,” the report stated quoting Jagland.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister has dismissed speculation that Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim’s role in Sri Lanka’s peace process was over. “ I am not planning to take over from anyone else,” He has said and confirmed that Solheim would remain.

However, the LTTE in a Press Release dated June 10 has criticized the upgrading of the status of facilitation without consulting the LTTE. It accused the Government of Norway of making a bi-lateral decision with the government of Sri Lanka, [and] circumventing the other party (LTTE) in [the] conflict [and that it] entails a breach of protocol and neutrality.

In an interview early May, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar expressed the government’s satisfaction with the progress of the Norwegian facilitation. “As far as the Government is concerned, we are well satisfied with what the Norwegians have done over the last almost two and a half years,” he said.

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Last Updated Date: December 17, 2003 .