A meeting on Saturday with the elusive commander of the Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran, comes after the rebels’ relief organization charged that the government was holding up container-loads of medical supplies bound for the northern and eastern areas under rebel control.

The government said it was following routine procedures in the distribution of aid.

At issue was whether the rebels could receive aid directly from overseas donors, underscoring their demand for independence from the Colombo government, or whether the government should centralize the aid disbursement, which it says, is necessary for fairness.

“We are not happy with the equal distribution of aid,” said Anton Balasingham, the chief Tiger peace negotiator who flew from his home in London to attend what he called “a very crucial meeting” with the Norwegians.

The government has said it was bending over backward to give the rebel zones their fair share.

International aid workers said they were satisfied with the cooperation by the Tigers and by the government representative in the task force supervising relief efforts, and all refugees are being adequately fed and cared for.

The crowded unsanitary refugee centers set up immediately after the disaster have been dismantled and the refugees moved to more manageable camps. Those, too, will disappear in the next few weeks, replaced by temporary thatched shelters housing individual families, said Penny Brune, the Kilinochchi director of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF.

The coordination “has gone extremely well,” she said in an interview.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen consulted President Chandrika Kumaratunga in Colombo on Friday, and was touring two towns virtually obliterated by the tidal wave Dec. 26; Hambantota in the Sinhalese south and Mullaitivu on the northwestern coast, the former headquarters of the rebel navy.

At least 31,000 Sri Lankans on both sides were killed, with some estimates ranging beyond 38,000. About 1 million were displaced.

Presidential spokesman Harim Peiris said Petersen’s meeting with Kumaratunga “was very constructive. The whole issue of relief and rehabilitation was discussed,” he said, adding that the peace process also was discussed.

While the focus was on relief efforts, Balasingham said the Norwegians also intended “to explore the feasibility of resuming the negotiation process” that broke down in April 2003.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fought the Sri Lankan army to a standstill for 19 years, in a war that cost

could receive aid directly from overseas donors, underscoring their demand for independence from the Colombo government, or whether the government should centralize the aid disbursement which it says is necessary for fairness.

“We are not happy with the equal distribution of aid,” said Anton Balasingham, the chief Tiger peace negotiator who flew from his home in London to attend what he called “a very crucial meeting” with the Norwegians.

The government has said it was bending over backward to give the rebel zones their fair share.

International aid workers said they were satisfied with the cooperation by the Tigers and by the government representative in the task force supervising relief efforts, and all refugees are being adequately fed and cared for.

The crowded unsanitary refugee centers set up immediately after the disaster have been dismantled and the refugees moved to more manageable camps. Those, too, will disappear in the next few weeks, replaced by temporary thatched shelters housing individual families, said Penny Brune, the Kilinochchi director of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF.

The coordination “has gone extremely well,” she said in an interview.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen consulted President Chandrika Kumaratunga in Colombo on Friday, and was touring two towns virtually obliterated by the tidal wave Dec. 26; Hambantota in the Sinhalese south and Mullaitivu on the northwestern coast, the former headquarters of the rebel navy.

At least 31,000 Sri Lankans on both sides were killed, with some estimates ranging beyond 38,000. About 1 million were displaced.

Presidential spokesman Harim Peiris said Petersen’s meeting with Kumaratunga “was very constructive. The whole issue of relief and rehabilitation was discussed,” he said, adding that the peace process also was discussed.

While the focus was on relief efforts, Balasingham said the Norwegians also intended “to explore the feasibility of resuming the negotiation process” that broke down in April 2003.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fought the Sri Lankan army to a standstill for 19 years, in a war that cost 65,000 lives. The Norwegians brokered a truce in February 2002 which has largely held, but it looked increasingly fragile in the weeks before the tsunami equally devastated both sides.

Joining the talks was Norwegian special peace negotiator Eric Solheim.

Hopes were raised of cashing in on the collaboration in aid relief to build enough confidence to resume political discussions on ending the ethnic dispute, which began in 1983 over Tamil accusations of systematic discrimination by the Sinhalese majority.

But troubles soon cropped up. Rebels and army soldiers occasionally scuffled over the distribution of aid in the tsunami refugee centers, especially in the east where the lines of control are less clear than in Tiger-controlled areas in the north. Each side accused the other of obstructing deliveries in the conflict zone.