Solheim discusses peace impasse with editors

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2004, 10:59 GMT]
Norway's special peace envoy Mr. Eric Solheim Friday had discussions with editors of the Sinhala dailies Lankadeepa and and Lakbima and the Tamil dailies Thinakkural and Sudar Oli about the current peace impasse in Sri Lanka. He said that he was unable to meet the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), President Kumaratunga's main coalition partner that is stridently opposing peace talks with the Liberation Tigers.

Mr. Solheim said Colombo should curb the activities of paramilitary groups working with Sri Lankan armed forces in the noertheast. He added that LTTE too should stop assasinations.

The Norwegian peace envoy said that there is little indication that both sides are prepared to compromise their respective positions on restarting talks. The meeting was held at the Norwegian embassy in Colombo.

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