Lankan rivals for bipartisan peace approach

President Chandrika Kumaratunga accepted a proposal by opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to adopt a common approach to solve the Tamil separatist conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972, officials said.

During two-hours of closed door talks on Monday evening, the two leaders discussed the fate of a Norwegian-backed peace initiative after numerous failures to revive peace talks that have been stalled since April 2003.

A spokesman for Kumaratunga said they discussed Wickremesi-nghe's proposals for a broader bipartisan deal, contained in his manifesto for the November 17 presidential election, and agreed on the need to work together.

There has been no unity between the two main Sinhalese parties on ending the long-festering ethnic strife in the island. Traditionally they have undermined each other's initiatives in the past.

"What has been agreed is for the first time for both parties to have a common position on solving the problem," an official close to the talks told AFP. "This is what the international community too had wanted, but failed to secure in the past."

A statement from Kumaratunga's office underlined the importance of the rare meeting of the two political foes.

"They both agreed on the importance of all major political parties working together in order to resolve the country's most troubled issue, that of war and peace," a statement from her office said.

All previous attempts by the two main Sinhalese political parties, led by Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe, to work together have failed.

Western diplomats involved with the Sri Lankan peace process have noted that a consensus among the Sinhalese is essential to ensure devolution of power to minority Tamils will work properly.

"What was primarily discussed was how they would work together after the election," a spokesman for Wickremesinghe told AFP. "They agreed that any solution to the conflict would be within a united Sri Lanka."

Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe, although from rival parties, have both pledged to work towards a federal state in exchange for ethnic peace and the Tiger rebels giving up their demand for a separate state.

However, they have sharp differences on the overall peace process and how it should be conducted.

Kumaratunga's own prime minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, who is her nominee to contest the presidency and replace her, is at odds with her over a final peace deal -- underscoring the difficulties in achieving a consensus.