UN tsunami envoy hails talks between Sri Lanka warring parties
Breakthrough talks last week between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lanka government could help speed the delivery of aid to tsunami survivors on the island, a senior United Nations envoy said. “I think that any time the parties to a conflict are talking to one another it enhances the prospects of the kind of reconciliation that permits the delivery of assistance,” UN deputy special envoy for tsunami recovery, Eric Schwartz, said in an interview late Monday. “There is no question that peace and reconciliation will provide a much better environment for significant progress in recovery,” said Schwartz, who is deputy to the UN’s chief envoy for tsunami recovery, former US president Bill Clinton. The Colombo government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) met for two days near Geneva last week and pledged to try to halt the violence which has severely strained a four-year-old ceasefire. Full Story