Lanka in talks with Norway over freeze in foreign aid
AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka has opened talks with peace broker Norway to help resume the flow of millions of dollars in foreign aid suspended due to the power struggle within the government in Colombo, a government spokesman said yesterday. G. L. Peiris said the government had begun informal talks with the Norwegian ambassador here, Hans Brattskar, asking Oslo to help persuade donors to honour 4.5 billion US dollars worth of aid pledged at a June meeting in Tokyo. Norway in November suspended the bid to end to Sri Lanka's three-decade ethnic conflict, saying it was unclear who was in charge after President Chandrika Kumaratunga took over three key ministries from rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremeinsghe. "What we are concerned about is that the economic benefits must flow to the people in the entire country," said Peiris, who is also constitutional affairs minister in Premier Wickremeinsghe's government. "Projects for which foreign aid had already been pledged should not be affected." Peiris said that due to the political crisis the International Monetary Fund had withheld the release of 80 million dollars, which should have been given last month.
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