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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka rebels want military attacks halt before talks with govt

Colombo_(dpa) _ Tamil rebels have agreed to resume negotiations with the Sri Lankan government, but want all military operations against them halted, a rebel website said Tuesday.

Rebels conveyed their position to the Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer when he met with the rebel political wing leader SP Thamilselvan in Kilinochchi, 320 kilometres north of the capital Colombo on Tuesday.

The official website of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said that Thamilselvan had told the Norwegian envoy that they were agreeable to the call made by US, Norway, Japan and the EU to resume talks but wants the government to ensure that all military offensive operations are halted.

The Sri Lankan governemnt has strongly denied that it was involved in "offensive operations," but said they were only retaliating to attacks carried out by the rebels.

The Norwegian envoy Tuesday returned to Colombo and briefed the head of the government's peace delegation Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva about the position taken by the rebels.

Minister de Silva declined to give details, but said that the government will be issuing a statement on Wednesday about the outcome of the talks.

Earlier the government had wanted the rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran himself to make a clear commitment in resuming talks and completing them in a given time frame, a commitment that they will not smuggle military hardware during talks and that it will not carry out any attacks.

Head of the government's peace secretariat Palitha Kohona said the government was prepared to resume stalled peace talks on October 30 or November 10.

Since December last year more than 2,200 persons have been killed in confrontations in the north and eastern parts of the country despite the Norwegian backed truce between the government and the LTTE and violence has further escalated during the past two months.

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