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Sri Lanka's peace talks collapsed after a failure by the warring parties to agree on a new meeting and fruitless wrangling over “humanitarian issues” during two days of negotiations in Geneva, diplomats said.
Peace broker Norway said it hoped that the failure would not lead to full-scale war in Sri Lanka, where some 3,000 people have been killed in a fresh spiral of violence since the two parties met in Switzerland in February.
Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim said representatives of the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were unable to agree on tackling humanitarian questions.
“I hope the parties will honour commitments to abide by the ceasefire,” Solheim told AFP after announcing the failure to clinch an agreement on dates for a meeting in December and January to keep the peace process alive.
“I feel pained that we were not able to solve humanitarian issues that have been a key problem,” Solheim said. “I hope the parties will live up to the commitments and keep up the process.”
The two sides pledged to uphold the crumbling truce agreement they reached in 2002. However, it has been widely violated in recent months and Scandinavian monitors in Sri Lanka say the ceasefire is valid only on paper.
“Both sides reiterated their commitment to the ceasefire agreement and promised not to launch any military offensives,” Solheim said.
He said Sri Lanka's key financial backers, including the United States, European Union and Japan will meet next month to review the latest setback in Sri Lanka's peace process.
“They will meet in November to decide how to deal with the current situation,” Solheim said.
The Norwegian mediators had been aiming to reach a deal over new dates for two more rounds of face-to-face negotiations in December and January in the absence of other progress, diplomats close to the talks said earlier Sunday.
The Tamil Tiger chief negotiator, S. P. Thamilselvan, had reported “zero” progress after the first day with government representatives, with no agreement on the rebels' priority demand.
On Sunday, he likened the closure of a key highway in the north of the island to a “Berlin wall”. Thamilselvan said the government refused to reopen the highway that links the Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the main island.
Sri Lanka's chief negotiator Nimal Siripala de Silva said the Tigers were inflexible and refused to accept an alternative sea route to supply the Jaffna peninsula, where some half a million people live under virtual siege conditions.
“We hope the LTTE will give up its hard line and accept a softer approach,” de Silva said.
Each side blames the other for the violence which has closed the highway.
On Sunday, the LTTE also accused government forces of preparing for a fresh offensive in the area.
The LTTE's military spokesman, Rasiah Ilanthiriyan, said in Geneva that government troops were preparing to launch a major offensive against rebel-held territory in Jaffna.
“There is a heavy troop build-up along the front lines at Muhamalai, Nagarkovil and Kilali,” Ilanthiriyan told AFP. “This could have serious consequences for the entire peace process.”
He said both sides were exchanging artillery and mortar fire.
The Sri Lankan military has accused the Tigers of launching long-range attacks against security forces in a bid to draw fire from them.
Solheim urged the two sides to refrain from large-scale military action.
Sri Lankan police and defence officials said early Sunday that at least five people were killed in clashes in the country.
A Sri Lankan government delegate, who declined to be named, said after the first day of talks that there was little scope for compromise with the rebels.
The negotiator said: “The government delegation is not in a position to agree to the LTTE demands because of the military implications.”
Following earlier warnings from the international community, the Tigers now run the risk of greater isolation while the government could lose foreign aid.
The conflict in Sri Lanka is Asia's longest and bloodiest separatist war, claiming over 60,000 lives since the LTTE launched its bid for Tamil independence in 1972.
