Lanka post office blast kills 8, injures 70

It was pay day on Wednesday and several soldiers and policemen were at the post office on Thursday morning taking out money orders to send home, according to reports.

The blast sent shock waves through Vavuniya, with shops shuttering up immediately, and people keeping indoors. Vavuniya is a garrison town and the farthest point of control for the government in the northern mainland, but the security forces are unable to plug infiltration by Tamil Tiger cadres from LTTE-held territory which lies immediately beyond. The blast came amid speculation that the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government would begin peace talks soon with Norwegianassistance.

A high-level delegation from Norway, led by State Secretary for Development Co-operation and Human Rights Leiv Lunde, left Sri Lanka on Thursday after discussions with senior members of the government and opposition and Tamil political parties.

The discussions followed statements by a senior Norwegian diplomat in Oslo that his government was involved in `shuttle diplomacy’ between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Tamil politicians have welcomed efforts by the Scandinavian country to facilitate a dialogue between the two main sides to the Sri Lankan conflict.Secretary-general of the TULF and parliamentarian R Sampanthan, who met Lunde on Monday said the Norwegians were “doing their best to help us along”. He said Lunde did not discuss with him how Norway proposed to do this. “They won’t tell me and they won’t tell anybody else. But they are involved and I think it’s a good thing,” Sampanthan said.

It is learnt that all the Tamil politiciansLunde met emphasised the need for consensus between the government and the opposition party before talks with the LTTE.

In turn, Lunde was at pains to emphasise that Norway is only just exploring the possibility of facilitation in Sri Lanka and that these discussions are only a preliminary exercise aimed at that end.

Parliamentarian and leader of People’s Liberation Front of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) Dharmalingam Sithadhan also welcomed Norway’s efforts.

“It’s a start, and we welcome it. Everyone in the country is yearning for peace, so any effort towards peace is welcome,” he said.