Colombo: Ahead of the sixth round of negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels in Japan, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)'s London-based chief negotiator Anton Balasingham on March 3 met the rebels' supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran to plan strategies for the upcoming peace talks.

The two rebel leaders met for the second time today after holding three-hour discussions on March 2 at a secret location in North Eastern region of Mullaitivu.

On March 2, they discussed the peace process and the talks to be held at Hakone in Japan from March 18-21, the 'Voice of Tigers' radio said.

Balasingham, who arrived in the island on March 2 along with his Australian-born wife Adele in a Sri Lankan Airlines airbus, was taken to the rebel-held Wanni region in a military helicopter from the Colombo airport. This is Balasingham's third visit to Sri Lanka since the Norwegian-backed peace process started.

Meanwhile, Prabhakaran is also due to hold talks with Japanese and Norwegian envoys within the next two weeks.

Norway's Foreign Minister Jan Petersen is due to arrive in Sri Lanka on March 12 and is set to travel to the North for talks with Prabhakaran and Balasingham.

Prabhakaran is also due to meet with Japan's special peace envoy to Sri Lanka Yasushi Akashi before the next round of peace talks with the Colombo government, the pro-rebel 'Tamilnet' website said.

PTI