Solheim not to quit Lanka peace bid

The Norwegian peace broker will get a deputy to do the peace facilitation work, reports PK Balachandran.

Norway's peace broker Erik Solheim will soon be getting a deputy to do the actual peace facilitation work in Sri Lanka.

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A Norwegian Embassy spokesman told Hindustan Times that a new Special Peace Envoy would be appointed, but added that the envoy would be working under Solheim's leadership.

Solheim himself told the media in Oslo on Thursday that he would need an assistant because he had to devote much of his time to the Ministry of International Development of which he was the minister in the new government in Oslo.

But he made it clear that he would continue be the leader of the Norwegian Peace Facilitation team, and would be in close touch with both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE.

He would be visiting Sri Lanka often, and would lead the Norwegian team at the next round of peace talks in Geneva from April 19 to 21.