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A breakthrough in Sri Lanka's civil war

The Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger guerrillas have entered into an historic formal ceasefire agreement to end years of ethnic bloodshed.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe handed over his government's acceptance of a memorandum of understanding with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to a Norwegian envoy.

The truce, which will go into effect on Saturday, was formally announced by Oslo, which has been acting as a mediator.

Denmark's Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen has been leading the recent round of negotiations and says both sides are committed to find peace:

"The most important thing is that on both sides there is popular support for a peace process and the leaders are taking those steps."

22/02/2002 23:02:24 | ABC Radio Australia News

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