SL talks: Favourable signals from LTTE

The Sri Lankan government has expressed 'optimism' about the LTTE's agreeing for talks, reports PK Balachandran.

The Sri Lankan government on Thursday expressed "optimism" about the LTTE's agreeing to come for a second round of talks in Geneva.

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Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told the media here on Thursday, that there were "favourable" signals from the LTTE, on the only outstanding issue, namely, the "capacity" of the aircraft that the government would provide for the rebels.

"We are continuing discussions on this through the Norwegian facilitators, and the response has been favourble. You can be optimistic," he said.

The LTTE had complained that the choppers which the government had earlier offered did not have adequate capacity. The government then offered two sea planes with higher capacity.