Villified Peacemaker Finds Himself Sri Lanka's Savior

Agence France Presse

January 27, 2006

AMBALANGODA Sri Lanka (AFP)Not long after being burnt in effigy as a "terrorist supporter", Norwegian peacebroker Erik Solheim has turned Sri Lanka's saviour in the eyes of Buddhist monks who anointed him an "angel of peace".

When the flamboyant 50-year-old minister held his first meeting with the Tamil Tiger chief in November 2000 and declared the rebels serious about peace, he was branded a "white Tiger" and vilified by nationalist monks.

However, after persuading Velupillai Prabhakaran on Wednesday to return to negotiations with Sri Lanka after three years of deadlock in the peace process, Solheim now finds himself the darling of the establishment.

As tensions soared and Norway was accused of siding with the Tigers, the man who today is foreign minister even branded Norwegians "salmon-eating international busy-bodies".

The promise of an early end to violence which has left more than 150 people dead since December produced a scene the Norwegian peace contingent could only dream of just a week or two back.

Solheim and crew travelled Thursday to this tsunami-hit village deep in Sinhalese nationalist territory in the south of the island to reopen a Buddhist temple restored with Norwegian aid.

More than 100 saffron-robed monks listened to Oslo's minister for international development preach peace and the need for a multi-cultural and multi-religious island.

"Some are skeptical and others are positive about my work," Solheim told AFP as he took part in religious rituals, offering jasmine and blue lotus flowers before lighting coconut oil lamps beneath a white statue of the Buddha.

"That is the way democracy works," he said. "It is good to be here."

Buddhist monk Baddegama Samitha, a former Sri Lankan leftist legislator, welcomed Solheim to the temple saying he was well known across the island.

"Today 'Solheim' is a household name. Every child knows who you are," Samitha said. "For us, you are an angel of peace."

However, here among the politicised monks might not be considered the most comfortable place for a man trying to persuade the majority Sinhalese, who are mainly Buddhists, to share power with the minority Tamils on the island of 19.5 million people.

"I wasn't frightened. I was never in doubt about my warm reception here today. I have met many Buddhist monks, including the maha nayakas (chief priests)," he said.

Solheim opened the dining hall of the Sri Sumanarama Viharaya temple at Ambalangoda, 85 kilometres (53 miles) south of Colombo.

The minister diplomatically offered saffron robes to the monks in line with a tradition of carrying gifts when visiting a temple.

He planted a mango tree, sipped black tea and tasted a sweet made with coconut sap.

"This is fun. I like this. I like meeting people. It means getting out of boring meetings with politicians," Solheim said at the end of a hectic three days of shuttle diplomacy to fix the deal between Colombo and the Tigers.

In the turbulent world of Sri Lankan politics, Solheim might find the need to visit a temple again as the warring parties get down to the nitty gritty.

The talks scheduled to take place in Geneva in February are only to discuss halting the violence and total implementation of a ceasefire that was supposed to have come into full force in February 2002, but which has been repeatedly violated.