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Sri Lankan president renews offer of peace talks with rebels
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has renewed an offer of talks with Tamil Tiger rebels after accusing the guerrillas of scuttling a Norwegian-backed bid to broker peace.
Ms Kumaratunga, unveiling her party's manifesto for the December 5th parliamentary election, announced she was ready to start negotiations with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
She says her government has been ready to enter into an unofficial ceasefire with the guerrillas since April and send more supplies to rebel-held areas of the island's north as a gesture to clear the way for talks.
She says that initiative failed when the guerrillas insisted that a January 1998 ban on them be lifted before talks opened.
Norway has been trying for the past two years to broker negotiations between the Colombo government and the Tigers.
However, Ms Kumaratunga said her government was still prepared to start talks with the Tigers if the rebel group renounced its main demand for a separate state called Eelam.
14/11/01 5:46:26 | ABC Radio Australia News
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