Sattahip (Thailand): Sri Lanka's historic peace talks entered their third and final day on September 18 after an early breakthrough in which the warring sides agreed on a road map for future contacts.

Delegates from the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have held nine hours of talks since September 16, agreed on September 17 on dates for the next three rounds to be held between late October and January.

"We will announce the exact date (for talks) tomorrow, but we have agreed on the dates for not one, but the next three rounds of talks," the top government negotiator G L Peiris told reporters late on September 17.

He said he was "more than happy with the progress" of the talks held at this Thai naval base.

The September 18 concluding session closes with a press conference scheduled for 2:00 pm (0700 GMT) when the dates will be announced.

Peiris also said the two sides were planning to take up "political and legal issues" at a later time.

The formal peace talks got under way under tight security on September 16 after both sides pledged to work towards a peaceful end to Sri Lanka's drawn-out ethnic conflict which has claimed more than 60,000 lives.

The September 18 discussions were expected to continue to focus on the urgent need for Sri Lanka's reconstruction rather than contentious political issues- such as how any devolution of power to the LTTE might be handled- which could upset the process, sources said.

The two sides have agreed that relief must be brought to Sri Lanka's 18.66 million people, who have suffered through three decades of ethnic conflict that has ruined the economy and brought huge social dislocation.

In particular, they recognised that the resettlement of the estimated 8,00,000 people displaced by the war should be a priority.

They also agreed to make an international appeal for help in clearing some 1.0 to 1.5 million landmines scattered across the northeast of the island, which has seen the worst of the war's devastation, sources said.

The talks also helped ease tensions between the Tigers and Sri Lanka's Muslims, the second largest minority in the country and represented here by government delegate Rauf Hakeem.

Hakeem was invited by the LTTE delegation for a separate meeting with top guerrilla leaders in Sri Lanka's Northern town of Kilinochchi to hammer out outstanding issues, sources said.