A Norwegian peace envoy was set to visit Sri Lanka on Monday to try and revive talks with Tamil rebels as the government grappled to resolve internal differences and soothe the island's violent east.
The visit by Erik Solheim is the latest in a string since President Chandrika Kumaratunga invited Norway to resume its efforts as peace broker, but the hard-line nationalist wing of her coalition expressed doubts over its role and the basis for talks.
"We think Norway's duty should be as a facilitator, not as mediator," said Vijitha Herath, who is cultural affairs minister and a leading member of the Sinhalese nationalist People's Liberation Front (JVP).
The JVP supports a negotiated settlement with the Tigers, but opposes any devolution of powers to the north and east, a condition that is likely to form the basis for peace talks.
"A facilitator can fix a date and place and time, but if somebody is a mediator they have a duty to be involved in talks," Herath said of Norway, which brokered a truce between the government and Tamil Tigers holding for more than two years.
Kumaratunga has so far bypassed differences within her minority coalition government - of which the JVP comprises more than one-third - since it won power last month by taking charge of the bid to end the 20-year civil war herself.
But the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have expressed concerns that the political divide in the south and ambivalence over Norway's role could hamper efforts to restart talks they suspended in April last year.
"The responsibilities of office have not curbed the JVP's chauvinism. The JVP's resentful tolerance of Oslo's role casts serious doubt on the long-term viability of the peace process itself," the pro-rebel Tamil Guardian said in a recent editorial.
The Tamilnet Web site also reported the leader of a rebel-backed party was concerned the JVP would not agree to their central condition for restarting talks - that they be based on a power-sharing proposal the rebels submitted last year.
"Tamils have taken a united stand that any future peace talks should be based on the ISGA (Interim Self-Governing Authority)," Tamilnet quoted Tamil National Alliance leader R. Sampanthan as saying.