Cooperation between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels is at a standstill or even dead at the moment.

Cooperation between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels is at a standstill or even dead at the moment,

Norway wants both sides to be committed to the cease-fire. Apart from that, I think Norway wants the government to give an assurance that certain of its coalition allies, which have been publicly denouncing the Norwegians, will be restrained from doing so.

If there are no talks, with continued violence, we will see the government lose control of the north. I think the violence is a high-level LTTE decision to push the government toward war or talks where they will try to obtain concessions and seek international recognition and legitimacy.

Both sides have shown an accommodative stance to get to talks. This could be a strategic move, but the basic thing is that there shouldn't be a situation where war could be a reasonable expectation.

This (peace bid) will be a turning point and will give us a signal whether the problem is going to get better or worse.