The Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers are on the verge of reaching an agreement on a joint mechanism to coordinate tsunami relief efforts, but they are still a few weeks away from formally signing it, the Norwegian peace envoy said in Colombo Wednesday.

"Parties are close to reaching agreement but there are few issues to be resolved," Erik Solheim told reporters after meeting with the leader of the country's main Islamic party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.

He said that in his opinion the two sides should be signing the accord in "two, three to four weeks time".

Earlier in the day, Solheim held talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan, who returned home early Wednesday morning after a six-week tour of European nations.

The Norwegian envoy said that Thamilselvan had promised to get back to Norwegian facilitators after consulting with the LTTE's reclusive leader Velupillai Prabakaran.

A joint mechanism to coordinate relief supplies to tsunami-stricken people in the Tamil regions was mooted by the international donor community following accusations that the government had discriminated against the minority Tamil community.

The two sides have been engaged in talks since February with the Norwegians in order to try and formulate the mechanism.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government has faced political problems with its main coalition partner, the JVP.

The Leftist JVP which dominates the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance policy formulation, has threatened to walk out of the government if Tigers are incorporated into the joint relief mechanism.

They see the move as one which compromises the nation's sovereignty.

However, political commentators expect Kumaratunga to go ahead in implementing the mechanism in order to make her post-tsunami rebuilding plans a success.
 
(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2005)