Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said that without the facilitation of the Norwegian government there would not be peace negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Addressing a public gathering on Wednesday, she said that those who oppose the Norwegian faclitation and clamour for their ouster from the country did not understand that the LTTE rebels would not come sit at the negotiating table without the Norwegians.

Kumaratunga was hitting out at her leftist ally, the JVP or the People's Liberation Front who have been campaigning for the ouster of Norway from the peace facilitation role.

The JVP led noisy public protests against the Norwegian role in the peace talks with the LTTE, accusing them of being biased towards the rebel group.

Norway entered the current peace facilitation role at the invitation of Kumaratunga in 2000.

They were successful in brokering the current three year old truce and six rounds of direct negotiations that took place between September 2002 and April 2003.

The JVP's opposition within the government has been a contributory factor to the non resumption of talks despite persistent efforts by the Norwegians to break the deadlock.