Purring Tigers

How determined are the peacemakers toiling to end Sri Lanka's 19-year civil war? On the eve of last week's peace talks in Oslo, the mother of a key mediator, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen, died of cancer. Helgesen received a message from his father excusing him from the funeral. Don't worry about saying goodbye, he told his 34-year-old son. Stay there. Finish the job.

By week's end, Helgesen was close. Negotiators from the rebel Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam and the Sri Lankan government had made such remarkable progress that a return to the conflict—which has cost 64,000 lives since 1983—has become all but unthinkable. The turning point came Dec. 4, when Tiger negotiators abandoned their demand for a separate state. The next day, negotiators announced an outline for a new federal system allowing Tamil-speaking areas the right to "internal self-determination."

Many more tough issues will have to be resolved, including the establishment of boundaries for the proposed Tamil zone. And reclusive Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran realizes a final agreement will still have to be sold to the people back home. An insider at the talks said Prabhakaran warned his negotiators by telephone: "We told (Tiger rebels) to fight and die for a separate state. Now we are asking them to be chums with their enemies again." Observers, however, hope the thaw in Oslo will continue. "There was no heat," says the insider. "Only warmth."