The two sides were unable to reach an agreement on the next round of talks as the rebels appeared lukewarm on the dates, complaining of hardly any progress in the two-day negotiations. However, Norwegian mediators expressed the hope that the discussions will help better the government-Tamil relationship, at least to some extent, since both have now come under intense pressure to honour the ceasefire as far as possible.

The government side feels that the talks were not fully without results, and urged the rebels to soften their stance in a bid to find a negotiated settlement, even though the task is difficult, and very complicated. In essence, the much vaunted discussions have not broken new ground, but may have removed some acrimony, although it is somewhat early to say how the two sides will behave following the talks.

The focus of the Sri Lankan imbroglio was riveted to the crucial talks which had been made possible by long and painstaking efforts by the Norwegian government, when recent weeks witnessed fierce fighting. The talks took place when the two sides were launching bigger attacks, with the government accusing the Tigers of "aiming to bully the government ahead of parleys," while the rebels say that the offensive is coming from the other side.

In any case, the talks once again offered an opportunity for a cessation of hostilities through discussions, and the two sides met after a long gap. The outcome of the talks may not be called an outright success, as no progress at all was possible on the first day and the second day saw some kind of softening of the positions, although concrete gains are not discernible. However, the mediators believe that the talks have not been that bad under the difficult conditions.

Unfortunately, the Lankan imbroglio took a turn for the worse in recent times as fighting grew in intensity, with both sides demonstrating scant respect for the ceasefire, which still remains on paper. The country witnessed the worst ever suicide attack on October 16 when Tamil rebels detonated a truck packed with explosives next to a convoy of sailors, killing more than 100 people, and injuring about another 200. The development has angered the government which, however, has expressed its readiness to go ahead with the fresh dialogue with the Tamil militants as decided earlier. But the incident shows the severity of the violence ahead of the talks, and it appeared that both -- the government and the rebels -- were seeking to call the shots to gain an advantage ahead of the dialogue.

The agreement for fresh talks followed tough warnings by the donors and the international community to both, the government and the rebels, to return to the negotiating table, even if the fighting could not be stopped. The Norwegian peace envoy, Jon Hanseer-Bauer, held tough talks with both sides on the need for abandoning the fighting, and resumption of the talks.

Japanese peace envoy, T. Akashai, also spared no efforts to bridge the differences between the two sides. True, they have not been able to resolve the differences much, but resumption of the dialogue has been made possible, which is definitely a big step forward in the present tense conditions, and since the talks have been stalled for a pretty long time.

Admittedly, it was the height of folly to expect too much from the "Geneva" round of talks -- let alone a solution. In the several rounds of talks earlier progress was slow, but not meaningless. This time, too, the achievements are not much noticeable in specific terms, but then an improvement in the climate is expected as both sides have made some pledges in that direction.

The fighting was raging even when the talks were going on in Geneva, with both sides employing maximum might in the battlefield. The government swung into the offensive with air, naval and land assaults, with the Tigers depending on their guerrilla tactics while they also have a surprisingly strong naval unit. It is a sad situation for the small, but otherwise prospective, nation which is bearing the brunt of more than a two decade long civil war politically, economically and otherwise.

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 hostilities continued with full ferocity. It is against this background that the fresh talks provided some hope that the Sri Lankan scene may change for the better.

In the past such hopes were dashed many a time, and the situation unfortunately went back to square one. The 2002 ceasefire was violated frequently earlier, but the intensity with which both sides have been facing each other for the last several months is a grim reminder of the civil war that persisted in Sri Lanka till a truce was agreed upon. What is more worrying is the ruthlessness that is being witnessed in the fighting as evidenced by the killings on both the sides, and often the helpless victims are civilians. More than 65,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far.

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 were back to belligerence again. Reverting to the conflict was least expected because of the resumption of the dialogue in Geneva after a long gap, and the assiduously laid ground-work had gone off quite well in the given difficult conditions resulting in a discernible improvement in the situation. But, it was not to be, as obstinacy on the part of both sides was more pronounced.

The pitch of negotiations was further queered by escalating violence. The latest incident by rebel suicide bombers on the sailors was described as "barbaric" by the government, while the rebels accused the other side of merciless actions, including aerial bombings on the innocent and the children. Nevertheless, the fresh dialogue was possible because of increasing pressure from home and abroad.

President Mahinda Rajapakse and Tamil supremo Villupillai Prabhakaran demonstrated wisdom by agreeing to resumption of discussions which were seen by many as a litmus test for both, the government and rebels. True, they could not fully seize the opportunity because of the yawning gap in their positions. But one can have some hope that things may improve as a fall-out of this new contact.

The chief rebel negotiator, SP Tamilselvan, is not happy about the outcome as he felt that the government has turned down certain demands like re-opening of some roads in the militant stronghold, while government minister, NS de Silva, charged the militants with intransigence. Another Muslim minister, Farial Ashraf, accused the rebels of turning against the minority Muslims.

The scenario, as such, is evidently not encouraging. But accusations and counter-accusations are part of the game in this situation. While efforts were still continuing for fixing dates for the next round of talks, in either mid or late November, it is possible that fighting in Sri Lanka may lessen because of a fresh dialogue, although cessation of hostilities seems highly unlikely.

At least honouring the truce could be a great leap forward towards peace under the present difficult situation. Failing to do this obviously means that the situation will further nosedive.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is a senior journalist.