December 5, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 29,1423

OSLO, Dec 4: Sri Lanka’s warring parties on Wednesday wrapped up a key political deal a month ahead of schedule and marked a major breakthrough in attempts to end the island’s ethnic bloodshed, peace negotiators said.

The Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) negotiating peace here since Monday agreed on a “federal model” that could form the basis for a final settlement to the conflict, they said.

“We are working on a framework,” the chief negotiator of the LTTE, Anton Balasingham said. “It is a breakthrough because we are addressing core issues. We are focusing on a federal model right now.”

His counterpart on the government side, G. L. Peiris, said the two sides reached a “major decision” that would tremendously boost their hopes of ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed that has claimed over 60,000 lives.

“What we now have are not hollow expectations. They are based on a significant agreement. It will be a tremendous boost to the peace process,” Peiris said.

He said the two sides believed they would have to spend another month before they could hammer out an agreement, but it was possible here in Oslo during the current round of talks that will conclude Thursday.

Peiris said a formal announcement on the political breakthrough would be made Thursday.

Political discussions had remained off-limits during earlier peace attempts.

They launched Tuesday the first formal discussion on political issues underlying the bitter ethnic conflict. Tiger rebels who fought for outright independence announced in September that they were willing to settle for regional autonomy.

Peiris said an announcement by Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran last month that he was willing to accept extensive regional autonomy within the framework of one country formed the basis for talks.

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has spoken of a system of “asymmetrical devolution” granting greater autonomy to areas of the island’s north-east where minority Tamils are concentrated.

Wednesday was the last full day the two sides had together before meeting for a final session Thursday morning before they jointly address a press conference.

Two other rounds of peace talks have been held in Thailand since September. Two more rounds are scheduled to take place in Thailand in January and February while the March meeting is due to take place in Japan.

Peiris, who is also Sri Lanka’s constitutional affairs minister, said the political talks cannot be expected to bring quick results.

“It is a long haul. It can’t be resolved in two or three months,” he said, adding that the LTTE had also begun looking at possible political models for a post-conflict Sri Lanka.

On the sidelines of the peace talks here, the two sides Tuesday studied a presentation on the Canadian system of government and had a further discussion on Wednesday.

They also received a petition with 1.1 million signatures of Sri Lankans urging both sides to ban landmines. They had agreed Tuesday to jointly clear mines planted by both sides.

The talks opened here Monday amid a worsening political crisis that could threaten the peace process revived by Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who came to power a year ago.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who opposes the prime minister’s handling of the Norwegian-backed peace bid, gets her constitutional right to sack the government any time after Thursday, the first anniversary of the last parliamentary election.

Balasingham said they were worried about political stability in the country.—AFP