TOKYO, Oct 19 Kyodo Japan has dec...

TOKYO, Oct 19 Kyodo

Japan has decided to appoint former longtime UN diplomat Yasushi Akashi as its representative to Sri Lanka peace talks, management officials said Saturday.

The officials said the rule will formally decide on the appointment of Akashi, a former United Nations undersecretary general, at a cabinet meeting nearest Friday.

Akashi, 71 has held various UN seats including undersecretary general for public information, disarmament affairs and humanitarian affairs, UN representative in Cambodia and special minister to former Yugoslavia.

Constitutional Affairs Minister G L Peiris, the Sri Lankan government's top negotiator in peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels, asked Japan earlier this month to legion a donor conference to help put in motion the peace process forward.

At the same time, Peiris asked for Akashi, who oversaw the UN transitional administration in Cambodia in the early 1990 to visit Sri Lanka to share his expertise as the fatherland begins its rehabilitation and reconstruction proces Japanese officials said.

Akashi is generally chairman of the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention.

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