OSLO, Dec 7 (AFP) - Norway's government on Wednesday said it would
agree to a Sri Lankan request to relaunch its bid to broker peace
between Colombo and Tamil Tiger rebels, but only if certain conditions
were met. OSLO, Dec 7 (AFP) - Norway's government on Wednesday said it would
agree to a Sri Lankan request to relaunch its bid to broker peace
between Colombo and Tamil Tiger rebels, but only if certain conditions
were met. "Our initial reaction is that it is positive that we have been
asked to continue our work. This is a vote of confidence," said Erik
Solheim, Norway's minister of international development, who has been
involved in mediation in the Sri Lankan conflict for more than five
years.
"But we want to make sure we agree with the government as well as
with the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) on the conditions before we accept to
take on that role again," he told AFP.
Solheim's remarks come after Sri Lanka's new President Mahinda
Rajapakse on Wednesday asked Norway to keep trying to broker peace
with the rebels despite an election vow to review Oslo's role.
The president told Norway's ambassador Hans Brattskar to keep up
the effort even though two key allies of the government had earlier
insi
