A top Norwegian peace envoy met with Sri Lanka's president Thursday, a day after failing to break a deadlock in peace talks between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels. Eric Solheim, who helped broker a cease-fire between the Tigers and government in February 2002, held talks with the guerrillas' political chief, S.P. Thamilselvan, in the northern rebel-held town of Kilinochchi on Wednesday. After the meeting, Thamilselvan was quoted by the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site as saying the envoy was "unable to give assurance" that Sri Lanka's government "will take any constructive steps to take the peace process forward." On Thursday, Solheim met with Chandrika Kumaratunga and discussed the situation, said Eric Fernando, a presidential aide. No other details of the talks were immediately available. Earlier, Solheim met with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapake, said Norwegian Embassy spokeswoman Kjersti Tromsdal.
