Sri Lanka, Tigers gear up for talks

Thailand (Reuters): The Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels sit down on Monday for their first peace talks in seven years to end a two-decade civil war that has driven tourists and investors from the island.

The two sides will spend over 12 hours around the negotiating table, dine together and live in the same housing compound in a bid to find a solution to one of Asia's longest running wars.

The three days of talks in neutral Thailand will seek to agree a development strategy for the poor, mostly Tamil-populated north and set an agenda for further discussions that are likely to last months, if not years.

"We are coming in with open minds," said G.L. Peiris, Sri Lanka's constitutional affairs minister who heads the government's negotiating team.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fighting since 1983 for a separate state in the island's north and east for Tamils, who they say are discriminated against by the majority Sinhalese.

The government and rebels have tried peace talks several times, most recently in 1995, but they have always ended in renewed violence.

Sri Lankan minister G.L. Peiris was confident on Sunday during a walkabout at the hotel where an opening ceremony for the talks will take place on Monday.

"Certainly, there is determination on both sides, there is a plan, a strategy," he said. "Of course, there are tremendous difficulties, we must not underestimate them."

The talks at a naval base in Sattahip, 260 km (160 miles) southeast of Bangkok, are expected to focus on immediate rehabilitation needs in the war-torn areas of Sri Lanka and to set an agenda for future meetings.

The LTTE's chief negotiator is Anton Balasingham, the London-based spokesman for the group.