OSLO: Hope of a lasting ceasefire and face-to-face talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels rose sharply on Tuesday after the guerrillas freed 10 army and civilian prisoners and the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said he was thinking of lifting the ban on the movement.

The two steps are the latest in a series of confidence-building measures taken by both sides since the change of government in Colombo last month which have given the island a new chance for peace after 19 years of civil war.

Carrying each side’s proposals for a formal ceasefire, Norwegian peace brokers have been shuttling energetically in recent days between Colombo and London, where the Tamil Tigers’ chief negotiator Anton Balasingham lives.

“We sense an increased level of confidence and a genuine wish by both sides for a ceasefire and, at a later stage, direct negotiations,” Vidar Helgesen, the Norwegian deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Wickremesinghe campaigned strongly for peace in the December election after the Tamil Tigers accused President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance government of not being serious in its peace efforts. His United National party promised to lift the embargo which was preventing food and medicine entering Vanni, the main northern area controlled by the rebels.

The Tigers greeted the UNP’s election victory by announcing a 30-day ceasefire, which the new government reciprocated. Last week the government let dozens of lorries enter Vanni with supplies for an estimated 300,000 civilians cut off by the army.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.