The main opposition People's Alliance (PA) remained ominously silent on Wednesday's press conference by the LTTE leader Velu-pillai Prabhakaran, but its ally the Marxist People's Liber-ation Front (JVP) slammed the government saying they were living in a dream-world of peace with the rebels.

A statement issued by the JVP politburo drew reference to the LTTE calling the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the leader of the south and Prabhakaran as the leader of the north.

The marxist party which has an influential 16 members in the 225 seat parliament said that the LTTE which said they were prepared to come for unconditional talks was now saying that the de-proscription is a condition for them coming to talks even though that is not included in the ceasefire agreement.

The JVP said throughout the press conference the LTTE leadership kept hammering the theme that the north and east was a separate entity and urged the masses to rally round "all progressive forces" to defeat the government's efforts at dividing the country.

Prabhakaran said that he will "consider" giving up his war for independence for the country's minority Tamils living in the north and east only if Colombo gave him autonomy and self-government, and recognised the right to self-determination.

Anti-LTTE and anti-government feeling on the issue was mounting in hardline Sinhalese quarters. "What Prabhakaran said was what we always knew" said S.L. Gunasekera, a leading lawyer and former MP who dismisses the Oslo-brokered ceasefire agreement between Colombo and the rebels as a "sell-out".

Gunasekera who leads a nationalist movement aimed at helping Sinhalese victims of the civil war and soldiers fighting it, said it was time that political forces which have completely divergent views on other issues come together "to save the country's unitary status".

What he appeared to indicate was the need for nationalist parties like the Sinhala Urumaya to join hands with arch enemies, the Marxist Peoples Liberation Front (JVP) to resist moves by Colombo to give self-government to the LTTE in the north and east.