Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Sri Lanka Tigers, Government Begin talks
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels announced they had held surprise talks with the government Tuesday, ahead of formal negotiations due to take place in Thailand next month.
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels announced they had held surprise talks with the government Tuesday, ahead of formal negotiations due to take place in Thailand next month.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) announced over its clandestine Voice of Tigers radio that a three-member government team accompanied by a diplomat from peace broker Norway held two hours of talks.
The radio gave no details of the talks held in the LTTE's stronghold of Wanni in the island's north.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the guerrillas and an official government team in seven years since a previous peace bid collapsed in April 1995.