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| Sunday, 26 May 2002 |
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Helgesan,
Solheim arrive to work out modalities
by S.selvakumar Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesan accompanied by Norwegian facilitator Erik Solheim arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday to finalise the commencement of peace talks between the Government and the LTTE. The Norwegian delegation will hold talks with Ministers Professor G.L. Peiris, Tyronne Fernando and Milinda Moragoda. On Monday they will hold talks with President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe before he left for Europe on Saturday met a delegation of Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarians led by Trincomalee District MP and TULF General Secretary R. Sampanthan and according to the latter the Prime Minister responded positively to the TNA request that the ban on the LTTE should be lifted before the commencement of the peace talks. The Norwegian delegation will decide on the date and venue in Thailand, after holding discussions with the concerned parties. The same delegation met with LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham in London last week who expressed the concerns of the LTTE at this meeting. The delegation will not travel to Wanni this time around since Dr. Balasingham has conveyed the stand of the Tigers to the Norwegian. In the discussions to be held in Colombo this week, the Norwegian team will confide in the government and the President, LTTE's concerns expressed by Dr. Balasingham. It was reported that the Tiger theoretician wanted the delegation to impress upon the government to implement fully the Memorandum of Understanding reached between the government and the LTTE. The TNA team which met the Prime Minister on Friday will meet with the main Opposition party in Parliament on June 4 and thereafter will hold talks with the JVP and the Sihala Urumaya on the proposed peace talks and will seek their co-operation to negotiate for a successful deal with the LTTE. |
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