Tamil Tiger rebels on Tuesday rejected Sri Lanka’s latest peace initiative as a "time wasting tactic" as Norway warned the insurgents to stop killing political opponents.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said the National Advisory Council for Peace and Reconciliation, launched by President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Monday to try to broaden the peace process, did not address their demands.
Tiger political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan told the BBC’s Tamil-language service that many committees had been formed by successive governments but none had tackled their demands.
Thamilselvan, speaking from Geneva, described the council as a "time-wasting tactic" and said stalled peace negotiations could resume on the basis of the LTTE’s proposal for an "Interim Self-Governing Authority," or self-rule.
"There is also a widespread campaign against us saying we are creating hurdles for the revival of the peace process, which is totally untrue," Thamilselvan said.
Peace broker Norway urged the Tigers to stop killing their rivals and warned that the spate of attacks undermined a fragile truce arranged by Oslo and put in place since February 2002.
Norway’s deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen expressed "growing concern" over political assassinations blamed on the LTTE, the Norwegian embassy said in a statement.
Helgesen, a key figure in brokering peace on the island, conveyed Oslo’s concerns to Thamilselvan who is leading a Tiger delegation to Europe to drum up support for the self-rule plan.
"Mr. Helgesen stated that Norway condemns the political killings taking place in Sri Lanka and appealed to the (Tiger) delegation that the LTTE does everything possible to stop such killings," the statement said.
Tiger guerrillas have been accused of killing over 250 of their rivals during the ceasefire.
Kumaratunga on Monday invited Tigers to start talks on establishing a federal state to end ethnic bloodshed.
She said she hoped to consult wider public opinion on peace-related issues through the advisory council despite a boycott by the main opposition parties in parliament.
The president said her government was committed peacefully to resolving the conflict that has claimed over 60,000 lives since 1972 and urged the LTTE to resume negotiations.
The government was ready to discuss the setting up of an interim administration for the island’s embattled regions as demanded by the rebels, but there should be parallel talks on a final peace deal, she said.
Both the LTTE and the previous Colombo government, during direct talks in Oslo in December 2002, agreed to adopt a federal structure to devolve power to Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils in exchange for peace.
