COLOMBO - Sri LankaÂ’s warring parties on Sunday sent their respective delegations to Oslo, the capital of peace broker Norway, to discuss the safety of Nordic monitors amid a collapsing ceasefire, officials said.A five-member delegation of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was brought by military helicopter to the islandÂ’s only international airport to travel for the meeting, officials said. A sixth member of the Tiger delegation was expected to join the talks in Oslo from his base in the US, officials said.
Tiger guerrillas played down expectations from the two-day talks starting Thursday and said they were attending the discussions as a sign of respect for Norway. Both the government and Tigers said the proposed meeting this week was not a continuation of their Swiss talks begun in February and put off indefinitely after fixing a date in April. The Swiss talks were to focus on the implementation of the February 2002 truce, but the Oslo discussions are even narrower and will concentrate on guaranteeing the safety of SLMM staff, officials from both sides said.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella described the talks as a “third-level” contact but described it as an important meeting to keep the troubled peace process alive.