Japan moves to restore tattered Lanka truce
Afp, Colombo
A top Japanese envoy arrived in war-torn Sri Lanka yesterday to try and restore a tattered peace process after some of the bloodiest battles between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels this year. The run-up to the visit by Yasushi Akashi, a former UN diplomat and trouble shooter in Cambodia and Kosovo, has been marred by an upsurge in fighting in the north of the island that left scores of combatants dead. The 76-year-old envoy will "discuss with the government and the parties concerned, the current situation of the peace process and its future," the Japanese embassy said in a statement. Just before Akashi's arrival, a powerful roadside blast killed a senior police officer in the eastern district of Batticaloa, an area the Japanese envoy is due to visit on Thursday, officials said.
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