International Development Minister Erik Solheim participated today in the Co-chairs Meeting together with the EU, Japan and the US in Tokyo, which discussed how the international community can best assist the parties in Sri Lanka in furthering the peace process. The Co-Chairs appealed to both parties in Sri Lanka to pull back from the current crisis.

The EU, Japan, the US and Norway make up the so called Co-Chairs group, which was established in 2003.

- We are extremely concerned about the escalating violence in Sri Lanka, as it could take the Island back to war. The Co-Chairs expressed that if the parties should return to war, there will be no international support for such a move, Mr Solheim told the press.

- The parties must find their way back to the platform for talks that they agreed on in 2002-2003, and resume negotiations. We have invited the parties to Oslo next week to discuss the safety and operations of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission as a first step, said Mr Solheim.

The joint statement by the Co-Chairs is available on the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs web pages