Norway's envoy to Sri Lanka's faltering peace process postponed a visit to Tamil Tiger rebel territory on Monday after a request by the government, a spokesman for Norway's Embassy said, as ongoing violence in the country's east claimed at least seven lives. Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer is in Sri Lanka for talks with government and rebel officials about the country's imperiled 2002 cease-fire, amid the collapse of peace talks and a surge of violence that has killed 3,500 fighters and civilians since last December. He was scheduled to travel Monday to northern Kilinochchi for talks with leaders of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE. «We have been told not to visit the LTTE until the government holds its Cabinet meeting,» embassy spokesman Erik Nurnberg was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
