Colombo: In a desperate bid to save Sri Lanka's faltering peace process, Norway's Ambassador to Colombo on June 18 met LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) rebels to discuss ways to end the deadlock in talks.

Ambassador Hans Brattskar held talks with LTTE's political wing leader S P Thamilselvan in Northern Wanni and discussed ways to end the stalemate in rebels' peace talks with the Sri Lankan government, official sources said.

Norwegian Embassy spokesman Tomas Stangeland declined to give details of the meeting, but said it was "positive and constructive".

He said Brattskar also visited development projects in the embattled area.

Other officials involved in the process said the two men discussed the recent spate of killings of political rivals blamed on Tamil Tigers, the sinking of a Tiger ship allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy on June 14 and a proposed interim administrative structure.

Brattskar's visit came two days after Colombo made a fresh offer of greater political power to the Tigers in exchange for ending their boycott of negotiations.

Previous attempts by Norwegian envoys, as well as Japan's peace envoy Yasushi Akashi ended in failure.

Sri Lanka on June 16 offered unspecified political powers to Tamil Tiger rebels in a desperate bid to salvage the faltering Norwegian-brokered peace process.

Sri Lanka's chief peace negotiator G L Peiris said the government was presenting the basic outline of a structure that could be finalised after discussions with the LTTE.

"It is necessary that the parties talk to each other to carry the process forward," Peiris said, adding that they were not spelling out details of the proposed structure, awaiting input from the Tigers.

The LTTE abruptly pulled out of peace talks in April after accusing the government of failing to deliver on promises made at six previous rounds of negotiations since September.

Problems for the tottering peace process were further compounded at the weekend by the sinking of a rebel ship and the assassination of two rival Tamil politicians.

The LTTE accused the Navy of sinking one of their merchant vessels in international waters off the island's North Eastern coast on June 14 and arresting 12 crewmen, a charge denied by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The LTTE was also accused of killing two rival Tamil politicians in the island's North and the East on June 14 and 15.

PTI