Tamil Tigers ask for ceasefire

AFP

Tamil Tiger rebels said on Thursday they were ready to implement a ceasefire, even though the Sri Lankan government has abandoned a peace deal, and urged Norway to maintain its mediating role.

"The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) wishes to state that even at this juncture, it is ready to implement every clause of the CFA (ceasefire) agreement and respect it 100 percent," a statement from the rebels said.

"We also request that Norway should continue with its facilitation role with the support of the international community," it added.

The LTTE — listed as a "terrorist" organisation by the United States and European Union — also appealed to the international community to "accept the just aspirations of the Tamil people, and recognise the right of the Tamil people to live with self-determination in their homeland."

In its first public reaction to the Sri Lankan government's decision last week to quit the tattered February 2002 truce, the Tigers said they were "shocked" and "disappointed" with Colombo's decision.

It showed that the government was not interested in a negotiated political settlement, the Tigers said.

"The abrogation by the government of Sri Lanka of the unprecedented nearly six-year-long ceasefire has clearly demonstrated that it will never permit the Tamil people to live with freedom in their homeland," the Tigers said.

The statement came after the head of the LTTE's political wing, B. Nadesan, met with the outgoing Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) chief Lars Solveberg.

Sri Lanka's government announced last week the Norwegian-led SLMM will be wound up with the formal ending of the truce on 16 January.

Nadesan asked Solveberg to inform the international community that they should lift the ban on the Tigers, as there was no prospect of any negotiations with the Sri Lankan government.

"The international community must understand this, and immediately remove the bans it has placed on the LTTE, believing the false propaganda of the government of Sri Lanka," the Tigers said.

Six rounds of direct peace talks and two further rounds aimed at saving the truce ended in October 2006, leaving the 2002 truce in tatters. More than 6000 people have been killed in fighting in the past two years alone, according to government figures.