The new US Ambassador to Sri Lanka espoused the Sri Lankan Government (SLG) line claiming that there is intense diplomatic pressure on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to offer “credible guarantees” not to rearm while negotiating. Robert O. Blake Jr. said that he was no aware of any SLG formula for re-starting talks but said that the international community cannot provide guarantees for the LTTE and such guarantees need to come from that organization. He did not mention anything about obtaining similar guarantees from the SLG.

Interestingly, the SL Army spokesperson said pretty much the same thing claiming that without such guarantees that resumption of talks was impractical.

The Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) believes that there is a “significant opportunity for peace.”