November 12, 2003	Wednesday	Ramazan 16, 1424

COLOMBO, Nov 11: Sri Lanka’s prime minister on Tuesday agreed to talks with his political rival, the president, in a bid to keep alive peace talks with Tamil rebels but rejected her call for a unity government, officials said.

The offer came as Norwegian envoys tried to breathe new life into the peace process for the first time since President Chandrika Kumaratunga threw the country into a tailspin last week by sacking three ministers and suspending parliament.

Government peace negotiator G. L. Peiris said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was willing to meet Kumaratunga Wednesday to discuss talks with Tamil rebels.

But he would not discuss an offer she made to form a government of national unity as a way out of the power struggle between the two leaders.

“We want to discuss remedial action. Regrettable as it may be, the main task is the fragility of the peace process and how to salvage the process,” Peiris told reporters.

He did not say whether Kumaratunga had accepted the terms, and the president’s office was not immediately available for comment.

“The prime minister made it clear that what he will discuss with the president is the state of the peace process and not her offer of a national government,” said Justice Minister W. J. M. Lokubandara.

Last week Kumaratunga took over the key portfolios of defence, interior and information and suspended parliament for two weeks while Wickremesinghe was out of the country.

Wickremesinghe’s government said Tuesday the president’s actions had damaged the peace process.

“Events of the last few days have inflicted very considerable damage on the peace process,” said government spokesman G. L. Peiris quoting the prime minister. “It has been damaged and it has been put in jeopardy.”

In an effort to restart the talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen and special advisor Erik Solheim arrived late Monday on a previously scheduled visit to meet Sri Lanka’s leaders.

Kumaratunga has been fiercely critical of both the prime minister and the Norwegians, accusing them of being too soft on the rebels.

She last week also rejected the Tigers’ blueprint for peace and said she acted in the interests of national security to take over the defence, interior and information portfolios.

Wickremesinghe responded by offering to hand over running of the peace process to Kumaratunga and by calling for snap elections. Sri Lanka has been in an uneasy cohabitation with the president and premier from rival parties since December 2001.—AFP