The Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have agreed to meet in Switzerland from Oct. 28 to 29, the island country's peace facilitator Norway said Wednesday.

The Norwegian embassy in Sri Lanka said in a press release that the government and the LTTE have asked Norway to make the necessary arrangements.

"The expressed willingness of the parties to meet for direct talks is most welcome. They are taking a small but important step towards continuing the peace process although the situation on the ground remains difficult," Norway's Minister of International Development Erik Solheim was quoted as saying.

Solheim urged the two parties to use this opportunity to cease hostilities as called for by the Tokyo Co-Chairs (EU, Japan, the United States and Norway) to ensure that a meeting actually takes place.

The Sri Lankan government said last week that it had agreed to hold talks with the LTTE on Oct. 28 and 29 in Switzerland to obtain a permanent solution to the country's ethnic conflict.

However, the government said it reserves the right to take counter measures if at any time the LTTE undertook actions of an offensive and provocative nature.

The talks if happen would be the first since the Tigers and the government met in Geneva in February and the first since the military clashes were sparked off late July.

The violence which marred the Norwegian backed process since the end of last year continue unabated despite both sides making statements that they are committed to negotiations to end the armed separatist conflict.

More than 64,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka's separatist armed conflict between the mid-1980s and February 2002 when the ongoing Norwegian backed ceasefire came into effect.

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2006)