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Norwegian peace broker meets with Sri Lankan leaders
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-16 13:46
A Norwegian peace-broker was meeting with Sri Lankan leaders, officials said
Tuesday, amid concerns that the assassination of the country's foreign minister
could further damage Sri Lanka's already faltering peace process, AP reported.
Norway's Foreign Affairs Minister Jan Peterson met with President Chandrika
Kumaratunga late Monday to assess what impact the slaying of Foreign Minister
Lakshman Kadirgamar on Friday might have on the prospect of resumed peace talks,
said Jayantha Dhanapala, from the government's Peace Secretariat.
The guerrillas began fighting in 1983 for an independent homeland in the
north and east for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils, claiming discrimination
by the majority Sinhalese. The war killed nearly 65,000 people before Norway
brokered a cease-fire in February 2002. Subsequent peace talks stalled in June
2003 over rebel demands for more autonomy.
Peterson, one of the architects of the suspended peace deal, was meeting with
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse on Tuesday, said Tom Knappskog, a spokesman
from the Norwegian Embassy.
"Yes, we are meeting the prime minister this morning," Knappskog said, but he
declined to provide details.
Unidentified snipers shot Kadirgamar in the head and heart late Friday at his
home in the capital Colombo. No one has claimed responsibility for the
assassination, but Kumaratunga and military officials have roundly blamed Tamil
Tiger rebels.
Kadirgamar, an ethnic Tamil, long supported efforts toward a negotiated peace
in Sri Lanka, and was a vocal critic of the Tamil Tigers' two-decade rebellion.
"The assassination clearly bears the hallmark" of the rebel group, Foreign
Secretary S. Paliakkara said Monday.
Nonetheless, Tamil Tiger leaders deny they were behind his killing and have
urged the military to look within its ranks for the murderers.
By late Monday, 51 suspects had been arrested in and around Colombo in
connection with the assassination, said military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake.
Thirty-five of them have been released on bail, eight are in police cells
awaiting further investigation and police are still questioning the remaining
eight, Ratnayake said.
The murdered foreign minister was cremated Monday at a sunset ceremony
according to Buddhist tradition, which was attended by domestic and foreign
dignitaries despite security concerns.
Kumaratunga imposed a state of emergency Saturday and on Tuesday a heavy
police and troop presence remained in the capital. Nevertheless, schools and
businesses reopened and life appeared to be returning to normal.
The military said the situation in Tamil-dominated areas remained stable.
"The situation in the northeast is calm, there have been no major incidents,"
military spokesman Ratnayake said.
Paliakkara urged foreign governments to clamp down on overseas supporters of
the Tamil rebels.
"This has gone too far. The international community must understand this is a
serious setback to the peace process," he said Monday, calling for "strong
anti-terrorist measures" against the Tamil Tigers.
The Tamil Tigers were among the first insurgents to use suicide bombings, and
their movement remains on terrorist lists in five countries, including the
United States and Britain.
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