Norway confident talks will start again

OSLO: The main mediator in Sri Lanka’s peace process, Norwegian Erik Solheim, expressed confidence yesterday that stalled talks between the Government and Tigers would one day start again.

“It’s very clear that again they will come back to the table” of negotiations, Solheim told reporters in Oslo.

“We are ready to act as soon as they are ready,” he said.

Solheim, who was appointed mediator to the Indian Ocean island in March 2000, did not give a time frame for when he thought negotiations could pick up.

“Of course it’s a pity that at the moment the situation is much bleaker than a few years back,” Solheim said.

“But again patience, patience, patience: we are patient.”

NORWAY, AFP