Tamil rebels rule out direct talks with government

Colombo: Tamil rebels have ruled out direct talks with the Sri Lankan government to end the country's minority ethnic conflict.

Tamil rebel spokesman Thaya Master told a local newspaper that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) does not hope to have any direct talks either with the government or with President Mahinda Rajapakse. His response came after the government indicated that it wanted to have direct talks.

Oslo meeting

The government's website of the Defence Ministry said that the rebels had produced "childish" reasons for refusing to take part in last week's meeting in Oslo. "The government is firm on its decision to find a solution through negotiations," the government said in a statement on the Defence Ministry web site, citing Palitha Kohona, who led its delegation in Oslo. "There is no need to have fears of war."

The LTTE produced "irrelevant grounds" for rejecting direct talks on the basis the government delegation hadn't any ministerial representatives, Kohona said. The LTTE came to Oslo already knowing the makeup of the government team, he said.