Lanka raises peace hopes despite killing

President Chandrika Kumar-atunga has vowed to prevent renewed fighting with the Tigers despite peace broker Norway's recent warning a truce which froze the war is "melting."

"The government is totally committed to doing all that is within its power to not allow the situation to degrade to military action," Kumaratunga told Colombo-based foreign correspondents shortly after returning from Europe on Friday.

She said Norwegian peace envoys had been positive about their latest efforts to jump start negotiations which remain suspended since the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) walked out in April last year.

"I don't think the LTTE has much to gain by going back to war," Kumaratunga said, adding the Tigers too were concerned about an international backlash if they sparked a resumption of war.

However, Kumaratunga accused the Tigers of killing at least 250 rivals despite a truce in effect since February 2002. She said the number of their truce violations had gone down since her new government came to power in April.

Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim is expected here next week to keep up Oslo's shuttle diplomacy to try to revive face-to-face talks between the Colombo government and the Tamil Tigers, diplomats said.

They said Solheim met last week with the main LTTE negotiator based in London, Anton Balasin-gham, and discussed ways to kick start talks, but there had been no breakthrough.

Balasingham told Tamil daily the Sudaroli the future of the peace process was in the hands of Kumaratunga and there was no point blaming the LTTE for a spate of killings here as well as in the island's embattled east.