Japan is willing to host direct talks between Sri Lanka's government and Tamil Tigers to revive a flagging peace process, a Japanese envoy said on Sunday, as suspected rebels launched several attacks across the island, Reuters reported. A string of lethal strikes on troops in the last week has put a 2002 truce under greater strain than ever before. Recent attempts to arrange meetings have failed after the two sides refused to agree a venue -- the Tigers wanting to go abroad and the government wanting to hold it between the two front lines. "The government has told me that it is willing to make a concession and hold negotiations outside the country, preferably somewhere in Asia," peace envoy Yasushi Akashi told reporters in Colombo. "Japan is ready to host such direct negotiations provided of course the two parties are agreeable to it."
