COLOMBO, May 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The London-based chief peace negotiator and the oretician of the Tamil Tiger rebels arrived in capital Colombo Friday for preliminary talks with the rebel leadership aimed at kick starting Sri Lanka's stalled peace talks,airport officials said.

    Anton Balasingham, who was the chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels during six rounds of direct negotiations with the former government was then flown to the rebel-held northern Kilinochchi district on board a Sri Lanka Airforce helicopter, officials added.

    Balasingham will discuss with the rebel supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran the moves to re-start the stalled peace negotiations with the new government led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga which came to power after it won the April 2 parliamentary elections.

    The Norwegian peace facilitators who concluded a visit to the island earlier this week said both the rebels and the new government were keen to revive the peace process.

    In April last year the LTTE staged a temporary pullout of the talks, accusing the then government headed by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of doing little to implement decisions taken at six rounds of negotiations.

    Balasingham, a British passport holder, was rushed to London for medical treatment in May last year following the rebel decision to pull out of talks.

    Balasingham, a kidney transplant patient, is the LTTE leader's trusted advisor and his visit accompanied by his Australian wife, Adele, signifies the organization's willingness to revive the peace process at the earliest given opportunity.

    The rebels have told the Norwegians that they were ready for talks the moment the government was ready.

    The six rounds of talks with the ousted government of Wickremesinghe saw the LTTE dropping their demand for a separate state in the north and east of the country.

    They opted for larger autonomy and presented the government with an interim self governing authority plan as means to see a permanent end to the two decade ethnic conflict that has claimed over 64,000 lives since 1983. Enditem