A high level Norwegian team will visit Sri Lanka in the first week of May in a bid to revive stalled peace process in the country, according to a report of the pro-rebel Tamilnet website.

The Norwegian delegation, which include Foreign Minister Jan Petersen, his deputy Vidar Helgesen and special envoy Erik Solheim,will hold talks with the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels over the resumption of the peace talks, the Tamilnet said.

The visit of the Norwegian team will come following a request made by Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga last week to invite Norway to resume its role as peace facilitator in the peaceprocess.

Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has agreed to continue to be peace facilitators but needs a same request from the LTTE rebels. Norway suspended its role as facilitator of the peace talks following the taking over of three key ministries including defense from the former United National Front (UNF) government by President Kumaratunga on Nov. 4 last year.

The Norwegians said that they needed clarity in Colombo over who would be responsible for the peace process.

The political crisis led to the snap parliamentary elections onApril 2 and a new government headed by President Kumaratunga in Colombo.

The LTTE rebels said that they are waiting for the Norway's formal information on the government's stance over the peace process before they could make a response.

Daya Master, the LTTE spokesman said that any future peace talks would be based on the recognition of the concepts of self-determination and traditional homeland as presented in the InterimSelf-Governing Authority proposals they submitted to the previous UNF government of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the end of October last year.

He emphasized that President Kumaratunga should accept the proposals as a basis for the future talks.

"If this is accepted as a basis for talks, then the chances of LTTE participating in the talks and the peace process being taken forward without disruptions are good," he said.

However, President Kumaratunga's Sri Lanka Freedom Party has rejected categorically the LTTE proposals, charging it is tantamount to the creation of a de facto independent Tamil state in the country's north and east.

The LTTE rebels walked out of the peace talks with the former government in April last year following six rounds of direct talksstarting in September 2002.

Kumaratunga had accused Wickremesinghe of giving too many concessions to the LTTE rebels which has jeopardized national security.

Source: Xinhua