Tamil rebels seek peace guarantee

The meeting took place at a secret location

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels say political stability is needed for peace talks with the government to continue.

But rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has reaffirmed his commitment to the peace process and the ceasefire.

The comments come after Norwegian envoys met Mr Prabhakaran at a secret location.

The meeting takes place amid a political crisis which has seen the president and prime minister locked in a power struggle.

The envoys' visit was originally intended to arrange fresh peace talks between rebels and the government, but it is now an attempt at crisis management.

Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, told journalists after his meeting that the Tigers felt they needed some clarity about who was in charge of the peace process.

Secrecy

"The leader of the [Tamil Tigers] sought the guarantee from the Norwegians that the Sri Lankan Government would continue with its commitment to the ceasefire agreement," the leader of the Tigers' political wing, S Thamilselvan, was reported as saying.

We do not want war S Thamilselvan senior Tamil Tiger

"He told the Norwegians that there should be political stability... for the peace talks to continue".

President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe have sharply differing views on how to negotiate with the Tamil Tigers.

Last week those differences burst into a full-scale political crisis when Mrs Kumaratunga sacked three ministers in Mr Wickramasinghe's cabinet and suspended parliament, accusing the prime minister of conceding too much to the rebels.

The Norwegian mediators passed on to the Tigers guarantees from both the president and the prime minister that they would abide by the ceasefire that came into force in February, 2002.

The Norwegians are also taking a number of messages from the rebels back to the government in the south about practical issues such as security guarantees for Tamil Tiger political workers inside government controlled territory.

The BBC's Frances Harrison in Colombo says that although the Tigers have been diplomatic in not taking sides in the current political crisis, it is clear they fear the peace process is on hold until there's some clear resolution of the situation there.

Peace 'threatened'

Presidential advisers have rejected a recent proposal from the Tigers for interim power sharing, saying it cannot be the sole basis for future negotiations.

The president and prime minister are at odds

And Prime Minister Wickramasinghe has said the peace process he initiated with the rebels has been badly damaged by the president's decision to assume powers over defence and suspend parliament.

The president and prime minister have agreed to meet again to try to defuse the political stalemate after they held inconclusive talks on Wednesday.

Some reports say the Norwegian envoys have been telling all sides it is hard for them to play a constructive role in this climate.

Norway may even be reconsidering its role in the peace process because of the power struggle, our correspondent says.

The Norwegian delegation has already had separate talks with the prime minister and the president.

More than 60,000 people have died in violence in Sri Lanka since the Tigers launched their fight for a homeland for minority Tamils in the island's north and east in 1983.