Stage being set for next round of peace talks

Norway, Sri Lanka and the Tamil guerrillas are setting the stage for the next round of peace talks with a host of high level meetings within the next week as the government tries to drum up more support for the process.

Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, will arrive in Sri Lanka this week as part of the preparations for the next round of peace talks.

Helgesen will be proceeding to the northern Wanni region for talks with representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), including the chief negotiator Anton Balasingham who is also due to arrive from London.

The Norwegian envoy will first meet government officials in Colombo and also political representatives before heading for Wanni.

Balasingham will arrive in Colombo for the first time making use of Bandaranayake international airport, a facility which he could not legally use until the proscription on the organisation was lifted by the Sri Lankan government ahead of the first round of peace talks in September.

Minister of Economic Reforms Milinda Moragoda, who has been meeting British officials over the past week discussing development and rehabilitation assistance to Sri Lanka, will also be proceeding to Wanni for talks with Balasingham.

Moragoda will also meet LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and discuss issues to be taken up in the second round of talks.

The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congres, Rauf Hakeem, is also expected to meet Prabhakaran and Balasingham around the same period. He will take up a series of issues concerning the Muslims in the north and east.

Hakeem said that he will be taking issues concerning allegations of tax collection, problems regarding resettlement and also matters concerning the clearing of landmines.

According to LTTE sources, coinciding with these meetings Prabhakaran has also invited his regional leaders to attend the talks with Hakeem.

Bernard Goonetilleke, chairman of the peace secretariat and member of the government peace delegation, is scheduled to meet the LTTE's political secretary, Thamil Chelvam, today in Killinochchi to discuss some of the outstanding issues relating to the peace process.

The LTTE chief has invited all his regional leaders to attend these talks.

Meanwhile, a host of other activities is due to take place ahead of the next round of peace talks due to start on October 31.