Norwegians key to resolution of civil war in Sri Lanka

Efforts mediated by Norway to end the 19-year civil war in Sri Lanka advanced further yesterday with an announcement by the Sri Lankan government that it formally supports power-sharing with the Tamil Tigers.

Gamini Peiris, the chief government spokesman in the divided island's capital city of Colombo, said matters were "heading in the direction" of a federal system, after a decision by the Tamil Tigers to drop their demand for a separate homeland. "Now that the [Tigers have] ruled out separatism, we are working on how to share power and, yes, we fully agree to the federal status formula," he said.

Almost 65,000 lives have been lost in the war. The Tamil Tiger guerrillas have been fighting for an independent state in the north and east of the island for the Tamil minority, on the ground that they are discriminated against by the Sinhalese majority. Mr Peiris said details of the power-sharing plan would be worked out when the representatives of the government and the Tigers met in Thailand in January for further peace talks mediated by the Norwegians.

There is some scepticism, including claims that the Tigers – officially called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – are using the talks to re-group. The region has not forgotten the failed attempt at an accord by India's Rajiv Gandhi in 1987, which led to the dispatch and withdrawal of an Indian peace-keeping force, or the collapse of the 1995 ceasefire.

There is predictable opposition among Sri Lanka's Sinhalese to making concessions to the Tamils: the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress said at the weekend that while mainly Hindu Tamils and other minorities should have economic and social rights, political decisions should be made by the majority Buddhist Sinhalese alone.

But the signs of progress appear to be concrete. Representatives of the Tigers have already reportedly visited Switzerland to study the federal system there, and – according to Mr Peiris – are examining examples in Canada, Australia, Germany and India.

Mr Peiris acknowledged what is already known across the war-battered island – that the path to peace would not be easy. But he also said: "We have a clear trajectory as to where we are going, and that is towards federalism."