``He communicated his belief that a speedy resolution to the impasse was needed, and urged the two leaders to work toward solving the dispute,'' Lohof said.

The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 to create a separate homeland for the country's minority ethnic Tamils, who claim discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese. The conflict claimed at least 65,000 lives.

Norway brokered a cease-fire in February 2002, and the rebels have agreed on limited autonomy instead of full independence. But peace talks held since then have bogged down, with the rebels and Norwegian mediators pulling out until the political crisis is resolved.

The country's two leaders, from rival political parties, were elected separately. They've held several fruitless talks on their dispute.

The U.S State Department issued a statement days ago, saying the political impasse ``cannot be allowed to continue.''

It said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage plans to hold discussions with Norway, along with other peace process backers Japan and the European Union, to try ending the crisis. Published: Sat Jan 3 12:24:56 EST 2004

Balasingham who met Minister of Community Development P. Chandrasekaran recently in London told him that the LTTE also had no intention of agreeing to a separate Independent Muslim Delegation at future peace talks.

The EPDP claim comes amidst unconfirmed reports of a possible general election early this year, following a political crisis in the country after President Chandrika Kumaratunga took over three vital ministries in November last year, which has also led to the stalled peace talks.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Rauff Hakeem is reported to have condemned a recent statement by LTTE political wing leader S.P. Thamilsevam that the Memorandum of Understanding between the LTTE and SLMC signed in April 2002 has been cancelled. Published: Sat Jan 3 08:56:56 EST 2004

SLMC’s leader Rauff Hakeem on January 1st, announced that his party had come up with a suggestion to formulate an Interim constitution rather than only formulating a proposal on an Interim Administrative structure fro the North and East.

But he said that even though his party thought it was a good suggestion, the opinions of other major stakeholders in the community would also be sought on the matter before drawing up the Interim Constitution. The SLMC is also expected to meet with North East Parliamentarians, other Muslim religious leaders and intellectuals within the next two weeks before finalizing any proposal.

The Interim Constitution is a complete set of proposals, which will cover the entire country and not only the North and East. Published: Sat Jan 3 08:52:10 EST 2004