The Hindu : `History in the making'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 10, 2003

International

International

`History in the making'

By V.S. Sambandan

NAKORN PATHOM (THAILAND) JAN. 9. The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidal Helgessen, today termed the ongoing peace negotiations between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as "history in the making".

At a press conference here, Mr. Helgessen said: "It hasn't been a historic meeting in parallel with the Oslo meeting last month, but history is in the making and that requires a lot of hard work in a very constructive manner".

The role of the facilitators, Mr. Helgessen said, had "become more hectic" with the peace process gaining momentum. On how he viewed the nuanced change in the role of facilitators with the progress of the talks, Mr. Helgessen said: "we are at the service of the parties'' and that they would "respond to the request by the parties''.

He felt that last month's "unexpected" agreement reached by the two sides on exploring federal models to find a political solution within the framework of a united Sri Lanka, had quickened the process.

But "this is going to be a very long process. I am not in a position to define that word more precisely", he said. Reading out a "joint statement by the parties" at the end of the talks, Mr. Helgessen said: "the deliberations were conducted in a frank and constructive atmosphere, with both parties demonstrating their conviction that the peace process must be sustained even when difficult issues are addressed".

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