COLOMBO, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lanka government said Wednesday that it has noted with concern an alleged attempt by the Norwegian peace facilitators to confer equal status to the Tiger rebels as that of the government in facilitating peace in the island.

    Keheliya Rambukwella, the minister of policy planning and the government's defense spokesman said that Sri Lankan foreign ministry would take up the matter with the Norwegian government soon.

    "We do not know if it was a mistake or a deliberate attempt," Rambukwella told reporters.

    He was referring to a questionnaire addressed by the Norwegians to both Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Velupillai Prabakaran last week.

    One of the questions posed to the parties was if the parties wanted to confer diplomatic immunity to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Nordic truce monitoring team observing the fragile ceasefire.

    "It is only a sovereign government that can grant diplomatic status and not a terrorist group," Rambukwella stressed.

    The Norwegian facilitators called for answers from both sides saying that their future involvement in the Sri Lankan conflict would depend on the responses.

    Rambukwella went on to say that the government had provided a state helicopter to the returning Tamil Tiger delegation from Oslo despite their refusal to talks with the government delegation last week.

    "A government has to act with responsibility unlike a terror group," the minister said, adding that the government by doing so was just honoring a pledge made.

    The LTTE delegation in Geneva on way back from Oslo had stated that the rebel group had lost faith in the government for a negotiated settlement and would press for the right to self-determination for the minority Tamils. Enditem