COLOMBO - Norway’s latest bid to save Sri Lanka’s tottering peace process ended in failure as envoys returned empty-handed from rebel territory amid more deadly mine attacks on Saturday, diplomats and officials said.The head of the Scandinavian truce monitoring mission, Ulf Henricsson, and a senior Norwegian diplomat who spent the night in the guerrilla-held town of Kilinochchi returned here without even meeting the top Tiger leaders. “Henricsson returned to Colombo this morning after spending overnight in (rebel-held) Kilinochchi,” a diplomatic source close to the peace process said. “They have not been able to end the impasse.”
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said their leaders did not meet the Scandinavians because the rebels had not changed their stance on the latest hurdle blocking a second round of talks to salvage a fragile four-year truce.
The Tigers had announced earlier they were indefinitely postponing their participation in the two-day ceasefire talks slated to start on Monday until they could hold consultations with field commanders. The guerrillas have insisted they be given helicopter rides or allowed to use their own boats to travel from the islandÂ’s east to the north where the rebel leadership is located -- a demand rejected by Colombo.
The emissaries went to Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (205 miles) north of here, Friday to meet with the LTTE’s political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan in a bid to work out a formula that would allow the Swiss talks to go ahead. “LTTE’s political wing leader did not meet the peace-brokers because the LTTE’s position has been clearly and repeatedly explained to them,” spokesman V. Dayanidi said when contacted by telephone.
“The LTTE’s eastern commanders will travel by LTTE Sea Tiger boats or SriLanka Air Force helicopters. No alternative arrangements could be considered.” A compromise offer of private helicopter rides was turned down by the Tigers who insist the military must give them a ride.
The military says allowing the Tigers to travel by sea would breach Sri Lankan sovereignty and it refuses to give free helicopter rides to the rebels.
| I'd offer to fly the entire Tamil leadership anywhere, but it'd be a one-way trip. |