Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on November 29 said the positions of the government and Tamil rebels on the framework for a political solution were "no longer incompatible", raising hopes of success in ongoing peace talks.

Wickremesinghe told Parliament in a special statement that LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had declared that his objective was internal self-determination within a united Sri Lanka.

"This encourages me to believe that the political dialogue can be fruitful because the positions of the two parties are no longer incompatible."

Wickremesinghe, whose government revived a dormant peace process after coming to power in December 2001 and has held two sessions of peace talks with the LTTE, saw a "paradigm shift" in the LTTE's position.

Prabhakaran had in an annual address on November 27 said self-rule and autonomy for Tamil areas could be a possible alternative for a separate state, but warned that he could revive his campaign for independence if this demand was rejected.

The thrust of this shift was that the group no longer pursued its idea of a separate state, but was willing to consider substantial power sharing within a framework of a united Sri Lanka.

"My government, recognising as it does the pluralistic character of our country is resolutely committed to devolution of authority as the vehicle for fulfilling the aspirations of all the people who inhabit this land," he said in the statement on the 'peace support meeting' in Oslo on November 25.

The Oslo conference had fulfilled the government's objective of mobilising international support for a negotiated political settlement, taking advantage of the drastic change in the global environment after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Wickremesinghe said.

"We did not allow that opportunity to slip. The Oslo conference was a fulfilment of that objective," he said.

"What we have achieved at Oslo is to transfer the solution of the ethnic conflict and related issues from the battle-field to the negotiating table," Wickremesinghe said.

Donor countries represented there had been unanimously enthusiastic about the peace process.

"The goodwill that was expressed has been converted into pecuniary resources for the country as a whole," he said, in a reference to the $ 70 million total assistance that had been committed by various countries for kick-starting rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the North East.

He said the discussions held thus far had enabled the parties to identify issues on which there were agreement and take note of potential sources of tension, while putting in place mechanisms to address problems. "We have now reached the stage when political issues can be addressed."

Wickremesinghe said that at the next session of talks (Dec 2-5 in Oslo), the government delegation would take up key issues relating to the consolidation of the ceasefire agreement in force since February 23. "These will include the enforcement of law and order by governmental agencies."

"I have always believed that in a process of negotiations as complex and delicate as this, sequence is as important as substance," he said, replying to critics of the government's step-by-step approach.

PTI