Sri Lanka asks Norway to aid peace process

Sri Lanka's long-running civil war has claimed over 60,000 lives

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- The new Sri Lankan prime minister says he has formally asked the government of Norway to resume its role as a facilitator in bringing the government and Tamil Tiger rebels together for peace talks.

Ranil Wickremesinghe was speaking Wednesday at his first news conference since winning the election December 5 and returning from India, his first official visit abroad.

The prime minister also announced that he wanted first to end the "harassment" of the Tamil minority by easing the economic embargo that has been placed on areas of the country controlled by the rebels, otherwise known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

He said food and materiel not intended for military use would be allowed into those areas beginning January 15.

Responding to the Sri Lankan request Gry Haaheim, a spokeswoman for Norway's Foreign Ministry is Oslo said it was too early to say what role Norway might take in the process.

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"We think it's positive that the new government is taking it seriously and showing willingness to start a process," she said.

However she added that the rebels would also have to approve of Norway's involvement before any attempts at facilitating peace talks could begin.

Speaking to reporters Wickremesinghe said he hoped the government's moves to ease the embargo on rebel areas would help extend the truce past its original one-month period.

However, he did not say which items might be considered by the government to be of military value and remain restricted.

He also refused to be drawn on a key LTTE demand that a ban on the group be lifted before talks can begin.

"We will cross that bridge when the time comes," he said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected on a promise to open peace talks with the LTTE

Wickremesinghe also promised that journalists would be allowed to visit the areas under rebel control.

However, he added that he did not believe formal talks with the LTTE leadership would be possible before March at the earliest.

The Sri Lankan prime minister was speaking less than less than two days into the country's new ceasefire -- a truce which reports from all sides appear to indicate is holding.

Despite growing optimism though he said many steps needed to be taken before the ground was ready for talks to begin.

While on his trip to India, he said, Indian leaders gave him support, encouragement, and understanding in his efforts to find a political solution to the conflict with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

For the past 18 years the Tigers have been fighting the central government for a homeland for the country's Tamil minority in a war that has cost more than 60,000 lives.

Norway has been trying to bring the two sides closer to the negotiating table for almost two years with little tangible headway.

However, Wickremesinghe's election victory earlier this month, followed by the start of a ceasefire on December 24 have raised hopes that talks on ending Sri Lanka's long-running civil war could finally be within reach.

The truce announced by the LTTE shortly after the election and reciprocated by the government is the first in nearly seven years to be observed by both sides.