Fresh Sri Lanka peace bid

The envoy wants the Tigers to attend a Tokyo donors forum

A Norwegian envoy has been meeting Sri Lankan officials as part of continued efforts to break the deadlock in stalled peace negotiations.

Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen has just returned to the capital, Colombo, after fresh talks with Tamil Tiger rebel leaders in the northern town of Kilinochchi.

His visit there was part of efforts to persuade the rebels to attend a key donors conference in Japan next month.

The Tamil Tigers are refusing to attend the meeting in Tokyo on 9-10 June until measures are put in place to control how the donor money is spent.

On Saturday, Mr Helgesen handed the rebels a set of proposals to expedite reconstruction and resettlement in Tamil-majority areas.

But the rebels have asked for more time to study the proposals.

Deadline

Last week, Mr Helgesen and Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen met rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran but could achieve no breakthrough.

Mr Petersen (left) also talked with PM Ranil Wickramasinghe

After the talks, Mr Petersen said: "I never give up hope that they will reconsider, but that is really up to them."

He said the Tigers would have quite a lot of explaining to do to the international community if they did not come.

"I am afraid that an unsuccessful conference in Tokyo might simply make people turn their attention elsewhere," Mr Petersen said.

Japan had set a deadline of Wednesday for a decision from the Tigers on their participation and says the conference will go ahead without them.

The Sri Lankan Government is hoping to secure about $3bn over three years to rebuild the war-ravaged island.

The Tigers pulled out of peace talks last month, saying the government had done little to resettle thousands of Tamils displaced by the war and provide economic aid to Tamil-dominated areas.

Oslo brokered a ceasefire in February 2002 and six rounds of peace talks have followed.

At the talks, the rebels agreed to drop their demand for independence and accept regional autonomy for Tamil-majority areas.