Norwegian foreign minister meets Pirapaharan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 May 2004, 07:32 GMT]
Norway’s Foreign Minister Jan Petersen met Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers and his political advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham in Kilinochchi Tuesday to discuss issues relating to the resumption of peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka. The Norwegian foreign minister was accompanied by his deputy Mr. Vidar Helgesen and Norway’s ambassador for Sri Lanka, Mr. Hans Brattskar.



The Norwegian team arrived by Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter in Kilinochchi around 11 a.m.

The talks between the LTTE leader and the Norwegian foreign minister covered a wide range of issues regarding the ceasefire agreement and the basis for restarting the talks, LTTE officials in Kilinochchi said.

The Liberation Tigers say that the proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) that they submitted to Colombo in October last year should be the basis for negotiations.