Helgesen, Solheim arrive in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 03:45 GMT]
Norwegian deputy foreign minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, and special peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Mr. Erik Solheim, arrived in Colombo Monday night in an attempt to revive the stalled peace talks between the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and on Tuesday morning conferred with the members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, sources said Tuesday.

During their stay, the Norwegian envoys would try to bring a consensus between Sri Lanka's President, Prime Minister and the LTTE to revive the peace talks, diplomatic sources said.

A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance, led by its parliamentary group leader, Mr.R.Sampanthan, is scheduled to meet with Mr. Helgesen and Mr. Solheim Tuesday morning around 10 a.m., TNA sources said.

Later in the afternoon, Mr.Helgesen is due to meet a delegation of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress led by its president and Minister, Mr.Rauff Hakeem, sources said.