Norway is making a fresh bid to revive a shaky peace process in Sri Lanka, reports here said Sunday as the military claimed further territorial gains in a new offensive against Tiger rebels.
Norway's special envoy, Erik Solheim, was due to make new suggestions to break the impasse, including the establishment of an international panel to monitor a truce, the Sunday Leader newspaper said.
The peace process was deadlocked over the question of "de-escalating" the conflict, which has claimed over 60,000 lives in the past two decades.
The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas and the Colombo government have said they were willing to enter "unconditional" talks, but the rebels maintain that de-escalation is a pre-requisite.
The LTTE mounted pressure on the Colombo government by declaring a unilateral one-month truce from Christmas Day, asking the international community to push Sri Lanka into reciprocating it.
Instead of holding its fire, the military mounted a major offensive on the sixth day of the ceasefire, claiming the recapture of a strategic bridge in the Jaffna peninsula.
The Sunday Leader newspaper said Norway's Solheim is to undertake another visit to Sri Lanka with a set of new proposals on breaking the stalemate.
It quoted "western diplomatic sources" as saying that Oslo had suggested setting up an international committee to monitor the preliminary phase of a "de-escalation" process.
"It is learnt that Norway, in consultation with some other nations displaying a keen interest and concern over resolving the Sri Lankan conflict, has evolved a three-tiered plan, which would be made available to the Sri Lankan government for its consideration and possible approval," the Leader said.
Further press reports said under Norway's fresh initiative, the Tigers were to halt attacks in Sinhalese-majority areas while the government would have to lift an economic embargo on areas held by the rebels before opening talks.
Meanwhile, Colombo reported that its latest military offensive claimed the lives of more than 150 Tiger rebels for the loss of 25 soldiers.
Defence ministry spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said troops have now taken two areas of more than 50 square kilometres (19 square miles) at Thanankilappu and Ariyalai.
"There wasn't much resistance and we are now in the process of consolidating and clearing the areas," Karunaratne said Sunday.
He said security forces were now in control of the main road linking the town of Jaffna with the region's second largest town, Chavakachcheri. Pockets of rebel resistance south of the road have also been cleared, he said.
The LTTE took the area in 1998 and launched a major offensive earlier this year aimed at taking the town of Jaffna, seen as the center of Tamil nationalism.
However, after spending an additional 400 million dollars to boost its firepower, military officials announced that the Tigers had been halted -- COLOMBO (AFP)
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