New dates for Lanka-LTTE Geneva talks set for April 24-25

Colombo, Apr 14 (UNI) The government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tiger rebels today agreed to postpone the direct talks scheduled to be held from April 19-21 to April 24-25, the Norwegian facilitators announced here today.

''The Parties to the peace process in Sri Lanka, the GOSL and the LTTE, have agreed to postpone the talks in Geneva. The decision was made due to practical considerations. We are grateful to the Government of Switzerland for their ability to accommodate this short postponement of the talks,'' the Norwegian embassy said in a statement here.

The confirmation for the postponement of the proposed Geneva talks has come barely a day after the Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday requested the Norwegian facilitator to postpone the second round of direct talks with the government of Sri Lanka, inorder to enable its Eastern commanders to have discussions with the rebel leadership in Kilinochchi about the ground situation before attending the next round of talks.

''We have requested the Norwegian facilitators to postpone the date for the next round of talks in Geneva and set a new date after April 22 for our Eastern Commanders to have discussions with the leadership on the ground situation in the Eastern province,'' the LTTE said yesterday.

UNI XC PR HS1957