Geneva to host Sri Lanka peace talks
Colombo (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels have agreed on Switzerland as a venue for talks aimed at strengthening a faltering ceasefire.
The Tamil Tigers' chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, says he will lead a delegation in Geneva on February 22. Sri Lanka's health minister, Nimal Siripala de Silva, will head the government team at the meeting, to be brokered by Norway.
A ceasefire between the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers went into effect on February 23, 2002, but has not been fully implemented by either side.
Since December, at least 153 people have died in escalating violence.
The two sides had their last face-to-face meeting in Japan in March 2003, but the Tigers withdrew from negotiations scheduled in Thailand in April 2003.
The World Bank says the agreement to revive talks will help reconstruction in Sri Lanka, but there will be no significant foreign investment until lasting peace is achieved.
The Bank's country director for Sri Lanka, Peter Harrold, says the country has maintained an average growth rate of five per cent even during the height of fighting, but real peace is essential to attract serious investments.
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