S.Lanka violence escalates ahead of talks, 1 dead

COLOMBO, April 8 (Reuters) Suspected Tamil Tigers killed one Sri Lankan soldier today and wounded two, the army said, while the rebels also said they had been shot at and ceasefire monitors warned rising violence could hit peace talks.

The army said one soldier had been killed and one wounded in after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired on an observation post, while another soldier and civilian were wounded in a fragmentation mine attack on an army truck in the north.

"In the last two days, we've seen a dramatic escalation in violence," said Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for the Nordic mission overseeing a strained 2002 truce. "This could end up jeopardising not only the talks but also the ceasefire itself." A second round of talks between the government and rebels is due to take place in Switzerland between April 19-21. Violence in December and January, that many had feared would lead to a return to war, declined after the two sides agreed to their first direct meeting since 2003, but is now rising fast.

If the talks fail or falter, some fear the Tigers will return to their two decade battle for a separate Tamil homeland, a war that has killed more than 64,000 on both sides and devastated parts of the country also hard hit by the 2004 tsunami.

On Friday, two Home Guard troopers were shot dead by suspected Tigers as they walked home in the island's east, while a pro-Tiger politician was gunned down in an assassination the rebels blame squarely on the government.

The rebels, who accused the army of firing on them earlier today, blame the government for backing breakaway ex-rebels, the Karuna group, and using them in repeated attacks on the mainstream rebels.

The government denies the charges.

"LOFTY, MEANINGLESS CLAIMS" At the first round of talks in Geneva, the Tigers pledged to cease any military action while the government promised to make sure no armed group operated from its territory. Peace broker Norway says neither side has honoured its promises.

The government says Karuna is not operating from their territory -- despite testimony to the contrary from Nordic ceasefire monitors -- and that they therefore cannot find any armed groups to disarm.

Tiger political proxies the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) say the Karuna group were responsible for the murder of pro-rebel local politician V. Vigneswaran on Friday. He had been due to replace a TNA MP gunned down at Christmas midnight mass, and was shot dead at work in a bank near two police stations.

"Lofty claims of the government that it is committed to the (ceasefire agreement) and its pledge in Geneva to curb paramilitary activities in (government) areas are all meaningless in the context of what is taking place on the ground," LTTE political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan said in a letter to Nordic truce monitors published on a Tiger Web site.

The Vigneswaran killing, and the refusal of the government to allow senior Tiger commanders to fly from rebel held areas in the east to their de facto capital Kilinochchi for a meeting ahead of the talks, was causing problems, the Tigers said.

Diplomats from Sri Lanka's main donors -- including the European Union, Japan and Norway -- would visit Kilinochchi on Monday to discuss the issue, they added.

"We are concerned about the recent developments, particularly the killing of the potential TNA MP," head of the rebel peace secretariat S. Puleedevan told Reuters.

"We are discussing with the Norwegian facilitators our presence at the talks." Reuters YA RK2045