By Amal Jayasinghe
COLOMBO, Aug 15 (AFP) - Sri Lanka’s political crisis may have eased with a breakthrough in arranging Oslo-backed peace talks with Tamil rebels, but more difficult choices are ahead, diplomats said Thursday.

Peace broker Norway clinched an agreement Wednesday between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to start formal negotiations on ending their decades-long separatist war.

The deal reached after more than three years of work by Norway is seen as considerably easing pressure on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government which is battling a hostile president in an uneasy cohabitation government.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga had raised concerns about the delay in the talks and charged that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were using the Norwegian-arranged truce, which has been in place since February 23, to regroup and rearm itself.

Kumaratunga had also hinted that she may sack parliament when it completes one year of its six-year term on December 5, triggering a stability crisis for the eight-month-old government.

"The dates for formal talks will give the government a little breather," an Asian diplomat here said. "It will be difficult for the president to engage in brinkmanship at a time when crucial negotiations are underway."

The government will now have to decide on a controversial move to lift the 1998 ban on the Tamil Tigers, a condition insisted on by the rebels before sitting down at the negotiating table.

Wickremesinghe has said he is willing to remove the proscription about 10 days before the commencement of formal talks, but delivering the promise is fraught with problems.

Hard-line nationalists and the Marxist JVP, or the People’s Liberation Front, which is in talks with Kumaratunga to topple the prime minister, is opposed to removing the Tiger ban before the rebels give up their arms.

Diplomats said the prime minister may have to turn to diplomatic pressure on Kumaratunga to press ahead with the peace process aimed at ending three decades of bloodshed which has claimed over 60,000 lives.

Britain, Sri Lanka’s former colonial ruler, was the first to welcome Wednesday’s agreement to start talks at a neutral venue in Thailand and encouraged the island to forge ahead towards a final settlement.

"Direct talks between the two parties is a significant step forward and has our full backing," British Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain said.

"I applaud the considerable progress made towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Sri Lanka, and urge both sides to continue their efforts to ensure that talks start on September 13."

Diplomats said increased foreign support for the peace bid would force Kumaratunga to back off from the present political stand off with the government.

"The focus will shift once again to the peace process and away from the political crisis," a government source said adding, however, that tough bargaining was ahead with the Tigers.

The government has said it is willing to offer greater autonomy to minority Tamils in exchange for ethnic peace, but the extent of powers and the territorial limits of a regional council are expected to be contentious.

Top government sources said they expected the negotiating process to take several years.

Moderate Tamil party, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), welcomed the start of talks and urged both sides to "rise above petty differences."

"All parties should take this opportunity to find a final solution," TULF President V. Anandasangari said adding that their party will abide by a settlement reached by the Tigers.

The prime minister travelled to the White House last month to drum up support for his peace drive and deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is due to visit Colombo later this month.