Norwegian envoy Trond Furuhovde held talks with the Colombo government and the Tigers to arrange a meeting to review their troubled truce. Furuhovde said here last night there had been no breakthrough in arranging early negotiations between the parties after the truce came under renewed pressure with the murder of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August. "I cannot say if the talks can be held in the near future," Furuhovde told reporters.
| But it's a safe bet that nothing will happen. |
Meanwhile, Ian Martin, an expert who is advising both sides on human rights issues and is a former head of Amnesty International, said yesterday the two parties had yet to agree on a mechanism to prevent and investigate violations.
Government's Peace Secretariat head Jayantha Dhanapala reaffirmed the government's commitment to move to a human rights declaration as agreed by both parties in March 2003, it said in a statement. |