The government and the LTTE agreed to meet in Geneva on February 22 for two days of talks, ending a three-year deadlock in negotiations, peace broker Norway announced on Monday.

"The parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka, the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, have asked Norway to facilitate talks in Geneva from February 22 to 23," the Norwegian embassy said in a statement.

The announcement came after Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim met the London-based chief negotiator of the Tigers, Anton Balasingham, to arrange a date for talks.

"The parties will discuss how they can improve the implementation of the ceasefire agreement...," the statement said. "This is the first time in three years that the parties meet face-to-face at such a high level."

Solheim said he will lead Norway’s own team at the talks that will be attended by a four-member team headed by Balasingham on the LTTE side and Sri Lanka’s Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva representing Colombo.

"The parties are taking a small but very significant step towards putting the peace process back on a positive track. And we expect the negotiations to be tough," Solheim said.

He said Norway’s former deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen, who played a key role in the peace process in earlier rounds of talks, will also be involved in the Geneva talks.