Government spokesman Mangala Samaraweera said they expected a "breakthrough" following a visit next month by Norwegian envoys to jumpstart the stalled negotiations.

The Japanese envoy who arrived here Wednesday  met with prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse Thursday morning and is due to meet with several other leaders before heading off to the embattled eastern province.

Akashi's visit comes after the Tamil Tigers reiterated that they have not abandoned their right to break away and form an independent state despite agreeing to explore a federal solution.

Tamil Tiger chief negotiator Anton Balasingham said a statement issued after a round of talks with Colombo in December 2002 had been "misinterpreted" as the Tigers abandoning the right to secede.

"The Liberation Tigers' decision to explore federalism ... does not entail an unconditional abandonment of the Tamils' right to external self-determination and secession," he said in his new book War and Peace, excerpts of which were posted on the pro-rebel website 'Tamilnet.'

"I feel it necessary to clarify our position on this controversial issue," Balasingham said in his book. "It must be stated that there was not any specific proclamation titled the 'Oslo Declaration'.

"The decision to explore federalism was included in the record of decisions at the Oslo talks and signed by the chief negotiators of both delegations and the head of the Norwegian facilitating team."

Balasingham said the LTTE still operated within the "overall framework of the right to self-determination, with its internal and external aspects".

If their demand for regional self-rule was rejected, he added, they would have no alternative but to secede and form an independent state.

Government spokesman Samaraweera refused to comment on the excerpts without reading the book which is not yet available in Sri Lanka. However, he said Colombo had been told by peace broker Norway as well as others that the guerrillas were abiding by the "Oslo declaration."

"What we know is what the facilitator (Norway) has told us and what the LTTE has said in Europe and that is that the LTTE accepts the Oslo declaration," Samaraweera told reporters here.

Diplomats said Akashi could discuss the issue with the LTTE leadership during his four-day visit.

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