COLOMBO: Peace facilitator Norway's last minute bid, ahead of the New Year, to revive peace talks between the UPFA government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is proving to be a difficult, if not impossible task.

The latest impasse came when Norway's special envoy Erik Solheim held talks in London with LTTE chief negotiator and ideologue Anton Balasingham. Also on hand for the three-hour long meeting was Norway's Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hans Brattskar. He flew in from Oslo.

With both the UPFA government and the LTTE sticking categorically to their respective positions, the Norwegian peace facilitators moved in to break the deadlock. This was through a draft agenda for talks.

Such a move naturally incorporated discussions over an interim structure. In dealing with this subject, Mr Solheim is learnt to have explained the outcome of his talks last week in Colombo with Dr Jayantha Dhanapala.

The Secretary General of the Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat had detailed out the government offer to discuss an interim authority and elaborated on matters related to it.

The positions so enunciated had led to speculation that the UPFA government had forwarded a fresh formula. At most he had only articulated the government's stance to offer an interim authority and made some proposals connected with it verbally.

Norway's move to formulate the outlines of a draft agenda is based on endorsements of both the government and the LTTE. This came about during talks Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen held both with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in Colombo and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in Kilinochchi.

Besides the agenda, the two sides also called upon Norway to suggest dates and a venue for talks in consultation with them. Dr Dhanapala said the other day that media reports giving details of the so-called proposals were pure speculation. "We know and the LTTE knows what is there. I will neither confirm nor deny reports that I had sent any proposals," he told The Sunday Times.

Speaking on the telephone from Oslo, Mr Solheim confirmed to The Sunday Times that it was Norway that was formulating the draft agenda. However, he declined to elaborate.

Hardly had Mr Balasingham held talks at his residence in London with the Norwegian duo and later entertained them to a Chinese lunch, had speculation mounted over fresh Sri Lankan proposals.

This came soon after Mr Balasingham transmitted to Wanni a report on his talks with Messers Solheim and Brattskar. That, of course, included an elaboration of the government's offer of an interim authority by Dr Dhanapala.

But news reports, particularly in the Tamil media, had already highlighted reports that the government had made fresh proposals. They were attributed to Mr Balasingham.

According to reports the UPFA leadership received through their own channels, the remarks of Mr Balasingham were to cause ripples among the Wanni leadership. They were angry he had initiated news reports that tended to raise hopes in the minds of the Tamil people of fresh prospects for peace talks.

It came at a time when the LTTE had launched a number of moves for a "people's uprising" to win their demands and were continuing with preparations to resume hostilities.

Angered by the developments, LTTE Political Wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan summoned representatives of the Jaffna-based Tamil media. It was for a "discussion" and not a news conference.

There he explained the sequence of events, some "off the record" and others for publication. His comments on Dr Dhanapala's proposals for the Norwegian draft agenda received wide play in the Jaffna media.

In Colombo, Sudar Oli whose sister publication in Jaffna, Uthayan was represented at the discussion, had the following account last Thursday: "There is no definite provision or clarity in the latest agenda put forward by the Sri Lanka government for a resumption of peace talks. Therefore, there is no possibility of the Tigers accepting the agenda." -By arrangement with Sunday Times / Sri Lanka.