Sri Lanka: Third Round of Peace Talks

Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam held their third round of talks in Oslo from December 2-5. The United States regards as extremely positive the announcement that the two sides have made progress in discussing political issues by agreeing to work to establish a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka.

We salute both sides and the Norwegian government for moving the peace process forward and welcome further progress toward a negotiated settlement based on the principles of democracy and respect for human rights, while maintaining the country’s territorial integrity. As we have said before, we hope that the outcome of negotiations will pay due regard to the security and well-being of all communities.