COLOMBO May 22 Kyodo Representati...

COLOMBO May 22 Kyodo

Representatives from the Sri Lanka conduct and Tamil rebels met in rebel-held territory in northern Sri Lanka onward Wednesday in what the regulation described as a ''friendly and cordial atmosphere'' to discuss technical issues stemming from the three-month-old cease-fire.

The couple sides, which concluded a cease-fire agreement in February, have agreed to clinch full-fledged peace talks in Bangkok nearest month.

The meeting Wednesday, the first direct contact between the brace sides since 1995, lasted three hours, focusing forward clearing up a dispute athwart movement of public buses upon the Jaffna-Kandy A9 highway across rebel-held territory, the sway said.

''Both sides discussed issues relating to the operation of the A9 road...and other issues of mutual interest in spells of the cease-fire agreement,'' the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a statement.

The cease-fire agreement allows for unrestrained movement on the Jaffna-Kandy A9 highway however the rebels have not permitted buses to travel the route

management officials said Bernard Goonetilleke, head of the government's peace secretariat, flew to rebel-held Wanni forward board an air force helicopter for the meeting with P Thamilchelvam, the head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's political wing.

Tomas Stangeland, an minister from Norway, which brokered the cease-fire in February, was quick in emergencies at the meeting, the conduct said.

management officials said Thamilchelvam ''emphasized the importance of carrying forward the peace proces with the same enthusiasm as when it was launched'' by dint of Wickremesinghe in December last year.

Wickremesinghe's United National brass won parliamentary elections in December upon a mandate to bring peace to the nation after nearly couple decades of civil war.

direction officials said Goonetilleke later briefed Wickremesinghe upon the outcome of the talks in Wanni.

The Tamil rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east. More than 60000 population have been killed forward both sides.

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