Norway fails to end deadlock in Sri Lanka peace talks

Norway has failed in its latest bid to revive Sri Lanka’s stalled peace talks, but it will continue to make efforts to bring the island...

Norway has failed in its latest bid to revive Sri Lanka’s stalled peace talks, but it will continue to make efforts to bring the island nation’s government and the Tamil Tiger rebels to the negotiating table, officials said on Friday.

Norway’s top peace envoy Erik Solheim was unable to clinch a deal on resuming peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), they said.

Solheim met President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday when it was decided that the peace broker will keep up the efforts despite the latest setbacks. ‘‘The president while confirming the government’s readiness to enter into negotiations with the LTTE had an exchange of views on the agenda for the talks,’’ Kumaratunga’s office said in a statement. ‘‘It was agreed that the Norwegian delegation would continue consultations in this regard.’’

Solheim today met Premier Mahinda Rajapakse after the overnight meeting with Kumaratunga who was informed that there was no prospect of an early resumption of negotiations, the officials said. Solheim was expected to hold several more rounds of talks with Sri Lankan leaders before returning to Norway. He met LTTE leaders on Wednesday.

The police said the trio from Chandigarh — Rohan (21), Sumit (22), and Mohit (19) — were dhol players by profession and had procured the weapons due to an old rivalry with local residents.

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