The Tamil National Alliance said in a brief statement Saturday its discussions this week with the South African envoy, Cyril Ramaposa, had been "very fruitful".
"We look forward to continued engagement with the Special Envoy especially during his impending visit to Sri Lanka," TNA said.
The statement did not elaborate on the content or conclusions of the discussions in South Africa.
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A delegation, led by R. Sampanthan, included Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan and M.A. Sumanthiran, took part in discussions which began on April 9th and are due to end today.
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Speaking to Tamil Guardian before the visit, Mr. Premachandran stressed the need for normalcy in the North-East in order for any dialogue with the government regarding a political solution to be successful.
Meanwhile, the visit has drawn criticism from the main Tamil opposition party, the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) however, who questioned why the TNA was agreeing to such a process of dialogue, days after the government had disenfranchised one part of the Tamil nation through the proscription of leading Tamil diaspora groups.
"You can't disenfranchise a section of the people you are meant to reconcile with, the very basis for negotiations ceases to exist," the TNPF President, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam told Tamil Guardian earlier this week.
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