Thai Prime Minister could visit Sri Lanka next year

COLOMBO, Sunday (AFP) – Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has expressed interest in visiting Sri Lanka next year, officials here said Saturday.

Although no dates have been fixed for the prospective visit, the Thai premier is expected to attend 250th anniversary celebrations in May for the ‘Siam’  Buddhist sect, officials from the Ministry of Economic Reform said.

Thailand in September hosted the first direct negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE in seven years.  A second round of talks was held in November, but the third round this week moved to Norway because it clashed with celebrations for the birthday of the Thai king.

Thaksin has assured Milinda Moragoda, a Sri Lankan  government negotiator, that Thailand will continue to host talks between the Sri Lankan government and rebels that seek to end more the separatist conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.

The talks will return to Thailand in January when the two sides meet to broker a permanent, federal power-sharing solution.