Friday, March 25 2005 12:30 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: The Sri Lankan Government has ruled out an early resumption of stalled peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels but said a deal on distributing aid for tsunami victims was possible.

"A formal resumption of the peace process is very much on the backburner," Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar told the Foreign Correspondent's Association of Sri Lanka in Colombo last night (Mar 24, 21005).

The peace process will remain on hold as the attention has shifted to tsunami relief after the December 26 natural disaster, he said adding even before the tsunami the process had been stalled.

Peace talks remain on hold since April 2003 with both sides unable to agree on an agenda to take the talks forward. Both sides had agreed in December 2002 to have a federal solution to end Sri Lanka's long-running separatist conflict.

Kadirgamar said that despite the problems for the peace process, the government was trying to enter into a "joint mechanism" with the Tigers to distribute foreign aid for the tsunami victims.

"I am told that that process is moving. It is not standing still. It is not going backwards," Kadirgamar said adding the proposed joint mechanism will have no political authority.