Lankan peace bid runs into new snags

Oslo's special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer returned from meetings with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) without agreeing on a date to end the seven-month deadlock in negotiations, diplomats said.

They said the Tigers wanted the talks towards the end of the month in Oslo, as suggested by peace broker Norway, but the Sri Lankan government preferred different dates and a different venue in Switzerland.

"No one expected this process to be easy," a diplomatic source close to the peace process said. "Hanssen-Bauer will be meeting with Sri Lankan politicians today as well before he leaves tomorrow."

Even as Hanssen-Bauer was in the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi on Tuesday talking with Tiger leaders, Sri Lankan war planes bombed nearby areas where the Tigers were said to have artillery guns.

The military said three artillery gun positions of the LTTE were attacked after a de facto front line came under heavy guerrilla artillery attack.