Sri Lanka's next round of peace talks will be moved from Thailand to Europe amid concern for the poor health of the Tamil Tigers' chief negotiator.

Balasingham, upon medical advice, shall seek to limit his long-distance travels Norwegian spokesman Karsten Klepsvik

London-based Anton Balasingham, 64, has diabetes and underwent a kidney transplant in 2000.

The talks could also be shortened from four days to two.

A senior Sri Lankan Government official said Germany or Switzerland were likely venues for the talks, which may now take place on 6 and 7 February.

The Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were working to finalise a venue, officials said.

Question mark

The talks had originally been scheduled for 7-10 February in Nakhon Pathom, a riverside resort near the Thai capital, Bangkok.

The resort hosted the previous round of talks from 6-9 January.

The Tigers agreed to autonomy in the north-east

Thailand has hosted three of the previous four rounds of talks, which began on 16 September last year, and Oslo the other.

The latest rescheduling raises a question mark over talks scheduled for March.

The Japanese Government had invited both sides to hold talks at a venue near Tokyo.

Japan is also organising a major conference of international aid donors to help rebuild Sri Lanka.

In the first round of talks in September, the Tigers kick-started a peace settlement by dropping their demand for a separate state in the north and east, and agreed to regional autonomy.

Later talks detailed security and development issues and hammered out a power-sharing model within a federal system.

The January talks centred on an accord for the return on Tamil refugees to the region.