Sri Lanka is clearly in trouble as war has started again, a cease-fire remains only on paper. The government troops and the militants are engaged in fierce battles, while peace efforts to find a negotiated settlement of the civil war have collapsed, with no sign that the two contending sides can be brought to negotiations. Indeed, it is a sad situation for the small, but otherwise prosperous, nation which is bearing the brunt, politically, economically and otherwise of more than a two decade long civil war.

Many people are fleeing their homes, some Tamils to India and some Muslims to safer areas. This is an indication of where the crisis has gone as anxiety heightened, nationally and internationally, about the shape of things to come in the future if the hostilities continued with full ferocity. Indeed, it is a sad spectacle.

True, the 2002 ceasefire was violated frequently, but the intensity with which both sides have been fighting each other for the last several weeks is a grim reminder of the civil war that has persisted in Sri Lanka, till a truce was agreed upon in a bid to find a negotiated settlement of the conflict, stemming from Tamil militants demand for a separate homeland in the north of the country.

What is more worrying is the ruthlessness that is being witnessed in the fighting, as evidenced by the killing of 15 aid workers, three weeks ago, of a French organization that was engaged in providing relief to the victims of the tsunami disaster. The severity of the fighting can also be gauged from the fact that the army, navy, and air-force have been pressed into combat by the government. There is no let up in the fighting.

The talks between the government and the Tamil militants resumed in February this year, but whatever optimism the dialogue had generated evaporated in quick time, and things went back to square one, which is belligerence. Their meetings in Oslo, to break the impasse, did little to improve the hostile attitude that exists on both sides, and the mediators, the government of Norway, themselves are not pinning much hope on the prospects of a negotiated settlement. Half-hearted attempts are being made to salvage the situation. But they could not break the stalemate, and the logical development was the return of hostilities.

Recommencement of the conflict was least expected because the resumption of the dialogue in Geneva in February, after a long gap and assiduously laid groundwork, had gone off quite well in the given difficult conditions. This resulted in a change for the better towards settlement of the complex civil war. The talks were abruptly stopped and were never resumed.

A glimmer of hope has emerged after heavy fighting in recent times, particularly in the sea, where both sides suffered. Now the minimum requirement is that the ceasefire must be observed by both sides, should they want progress in the efforts for a settlement.

All pleas from the saner sections of the people, inside and outside Sri Lanka, are clearly falling on deaf ears, as stubbornness and a fear of "loss of face" are haunting both the government and the rebels. Can they really be oblivious of the colossal destruction being wrought upon men and materials by the fratricidal war? Can the two sides seize the new opportunity created by the readiness, expressed by both, to resume talks?

Over the last several years the international community, led by the Norwegian government, had played a commendable role in the painstaking endeavour to bring the two sides to the negotiating table, and in the process the yawning gap has been narrowed down somewhat, even if not considerably.

This paved the way for the 2002 truce, and subsequently several rounds of talks were held outside the country. The dialogue between the government and the rebels was sensitive, and certain issues were evidently hard nuts to crack, but the talks were not fruitless.

Both sides gave concessions to their opponents, at times in a significant climb-down from their known positions. This has raised hopes for a solution through discussions, although everyone knows that the road will be bumpy. Unfortunately, the progress has now been negated, and both sides are responsible for this sordid situation.

A government minister has confirmed that the militant chief Prabhakaran has shown willingness for dialogue and that president Mahinda Rajapakse is expected to respond positively. The recent loss of men and material on both sides has encouraged them to give a second thought about continuing the bloody hostilities.

However, the path to resumption of talks is still strewn with many impediments. These obstacles can be removed if both sides are really keen to give dialogue a chance. Hopefully, the government and the Tamil rebels live up to the expectations, even though they failed many a time in the past.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is Foreign Editor, BSS.