The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Thursday made a fresh offer to President Chandrika Kumaratunga through Norway to end a 19-month deadlock on peace talks.
The message was conveyed to Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen during a meeting he had with LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran in the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi, the Tamil Tigers said. "We have conveyed a message to her [the president] on how to take the peace process forward," LTTE's chief peace negotiator Anton Balasingham was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel Tamilnet website.
"But, the Norwegians have requested us not to speak about it to the press until they discuss it with the Sri Lankan president," he said.
Petersen returned to Colombo from Kilinochchi, 330 km north of Colombo, to have a second round of talks with Kumaratunga before leaving the island early on Friday.
Kumaratunga, during a meeting last night with Petersen, had told the Norwegian minister to convey to the LTTE rebels her government's willingness to resume direct negotiations at the earliest. Petersen flew to Kilinochchi on Thursday with Kumaratunga's message, her office said.