COLOMBO, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's all political party panel convened by President Mahinda Rajapakse to formulate a plan to end the island's separatist conflict through political means has reached its final stage, government officials said Wednesday.

    "We have reached the final stage. Now the delegates would consult their respective party leaders. Once they reach agreement the final proposal would be forwarded to the president," Tissa Vitharana, the minister of Science and Technology and the head of the All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) told reporters.

    However, the minister did not elaborate on the form of final outcome of the APRC deliberations.

    The APRC was convened by Rajapakse in 2006 to achieve southern political party consensus over the Tamil minority demand for political autonomy.

    Tamil Tiger rebels who waged a 30 year old campaign to set up a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east came to be militarily annihilated before the panel could reach consensus.

    Since the defeat of the Tamil Tigers the Sri Lankan government has been pledging to fully implement the 13th amendment to the constitution mooted by India in 1987.

    Under the amendment, the central government will devolve some social and economic powers to the provincial governments.