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Foreign minister hopes to revive peace process

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said yesterday he was optimistic that a meeting of top donors this week would help to revive the island nation's moribund peace process.

Peace broker Norway is holding the crucial meeting of Sri Lanka's top aid donors in a bid to halt a new wave of bloodshed.

"We are expecting a very favorable development. The outcome is expected to encourage the current peace process toward contributing to the sustainability of our country," Bogollagma said.

Since Oslo-brokered peace talks collapsed last year, diplomatic efforts have failed to end violence in the bitter ethnic conflict which has claimed more than 60,000 lives in the past 35 years.

Bogollagama, in Japan for the first time since he took office in January, met Wednesday with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso, who pledged about one million dollars' worth of aid for landmine removal and support for refugees.

Japan accounts for about two-thirds of total bilateral aid to the island and international human rights groups have been lobbying Tokyo to exert pressure on Colombo to stem the violence.
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