to revive Sri Lankan peace talks Colombo, Sri Lanka, Dec 15, SPA -- A Norwegian peace broker met with a Tamil Tiger rebel leader Wednesday in the latesteffort to revive long-stalled peace talks between theguerrillas and the Sri Lankan government. Erik Solheim arrived at the northern rebel-held town ofKilinochchi and began discussions with the insurgents'political chief S.P. Thamilselvan, a spokesman at the rebeloffice said. The meeting was delayed a few hours after Solheim'shelicopter was forced to land in bad weather, saidNorwegian Embassy spokeswoman Kjersti Tromsdal. Solheim met Tuesday with the head of a European teammonitoring a February 2002 cease-fire between the rebelsand government troops. Talks aimed at ending two decades of civil war in thisSouth Asian island nation came to a halt in April 2003 whenthe Tigers withdrew, demanding more autonomy for areasdominated by the ethnic Tamil minority. Stubbornness and distrust on both sides have blockedinternational efforts, led by Norway and Japan, to bringthe two sides back to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, ambassadors of Japan, the European Union andthe United States said in a joint statement Wednesday thatthey've expressed concern to President ChandrikaKumaratunga over her Marxist coalition partner's oppositionto the Norwegian-brokered peace process. The Marxist People's Liberation Front, dominated by theSinhalese majority, opposes any concessions being given tothe rebels, and accuses Norway of siding with the Tigers.The group has 39 members in the 225-seat parliament. The Tigers warned last month that unless talks resumeimmediately based on their proposal for self-rule _ whichcalls for a largely independent territory for Tamils _ theinsurgents will resume their "freedom struggle." The government, however, says talks must also involveexploring a permanent settlement along the lines of afederal solution. Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam began their violentcampaign in 1983 to create a separate state for ethnicminority Tamils accusing the Sinhalese of discrimination.About 65,000 people were killed in the conflict before thecease-fire.--SPA1320 Local Time 1020 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/225103