The Norwegian government said on Wednesday that it had urged the LTTE guerrillas (Tamil Tigers) to negotiate with the Sri Lankan central government for a ceasefire, according to reports reaching here from Oslo.
"In order to protect thousands of civilians caught in the war zone, Norge has asked the LTTE guerrillas (Tamil Tigers) to contact the central Sri Lanka government," Erik Solheim, Norway's Minister of International Development, was quoted as saying by the Norwegian online newspaper The Norway Post.
"This is now a precarious situation with many tens of casualties every day. We must avoid more civilian sufferings," Solheim told The Norway Post.
He said that Norway has therefore joined the EU, U.S. and Japan in a joint statement where they ask the two sides to stop the fighting and negotiate a solution based on the LTTE ending its warfare and moving on to the use of political means.
About 70,000 people have been killed in the civil war in Sri Lanka since 1972. Seven years ago, Norway brokered ceasefire negotiations between the two sides, but all talks ended in failure.
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