Japanese peace envoy to visit Sri Lanka tomorrow

Colombo, May 5 (UNI) Japanese special peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi, will arrive here tomorrow on a five-day visit.

During his visit he will hold discussions with the government and the other parties on the current situation pertaining to the strained peace process.

A statement from the Norwegian embassy said here today Mr Akashi during his stay in Sri Lanka ''is scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapakse, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Healthcare and the government's chief negotiator, Nimal Sripala de Silva, other relevant leaders and officials including international organisations in Sri Lanka''.

''The Embassy of Japan is also seeking the possibility for Mr Akashi to visit Kilinochchi in order to meet with the leaders of LTTE,'' the statement added.

The visit by the Japanese special peace envoy comes at a time when the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tiger rebels locked horns over the transportation of LTTE's eastern commanders for discussions with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran prior to the Geneva talks, resulting in the direct talks being postponed indefinitely.

UNI XC KD KN1855