NEW DELHI, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Sri Lanka's two major political parties agreed to hold talks with Tamil rebels to find a lasting solution to the decades-old ethnic conflict.
The Hindu newspaper said Friday the agreement between ruling United People's Freedom Alliance and the Opposition United National Party was an outcome of a 90-minute meeting between President Mahinda Rajapakse and the Leader of Opposition and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
"The meeting is a part of Rajapakse's plans to hold talks with southern parliamentary parties before starting negotiations with the rebels," said a report.
Rajapakse hopes to complete the talks with parties represented in Parliament within three months and then hold direct talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
"Mr. Rajapakse has held similar talks with the pro-Sinhala Jathika Peramuna and the Jathika Hela Urumaya. The details of the meeting have not been made public," said a government spokesman.
The foreign ministers of Norway and Sri Lanka expressed hope talks on strengthening of the implementation and effective monitoring of the cease-fire agreement could begin early next year.
"The two foreign ministers held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral ties and matters related to the Norwegian facilitation in the island country's peace process," said a joint statement issued after the meeting.
Japan also offered to host talks on the issue of the implementation of the cease-fire. Japanese special representative Yasushi Akashi described the law-and-order situation in Sri Lanka as deteriorating and said it was causing considerable concern.
