Bangalore: A Sri Lankan minister on July 15 said that a breakthrough is possible in Norway-brokered peace talks with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) scheduled in Bangkok in mid-August and indicated that the island government had no option but to trust the Tamil tigers.

"We will talk in August. We are confident we will solve this (ethnic) problem", Sri Lanka's Tourism Minister, Gamini Lokuge, said in Bangalore.

Speaking at a news conference after Sri Lankan Airlines launched its direct flight services between Bangalore and Colombo, he said a Norwegian team has already drawn up a programme for talks in consultation with the government and the LTTE.

Asked if there could be a breakthrough in next month's talks, Lokuge replied, "Yes. We are hoping".

Ever since the ceasefire came into being, he noted, checkpoints have been removed and people have been moving about freely from East and North to Colombo and vice-versa.

Lokuge hinted that LTTE chief, V Prabhakaran, is likely to represent the tigers in the Bangkok talks. "I think he (Prabhakaran) is going", he said, but hastened to add, "I don't know what's their programme".

Queried if the Sri Lankan government has "forgiven" the LTTE for their terrorist activities and whether the tigers are trustworthy, the minister said, "What to do, we have to do, If we want peace, we have to do".

PTI