Fighting flares despite Lanka peace talk pledges

Colombo, Oct 5: Sporadic shelling continued in Sri Lanka's north today and suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed a soldier with a roadside bomb, just hours after the government agreed to crunch talks aimed at halting renewed civil war.

Residents in the far northern army-held Jaffna peninsula heard volleys of artillery shells before dawn, but said the intensity was far lower than in recent weeks -- the worst fighting since a 2002 ceasefire that now lies in tatters.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government have agreed to meet for talks on October 28-30 after a six-month impasse. The government says the talks will take place in Geneva, although the Tigers wanted to go Oslo.

The rebels have threatened to withdraw from the truce completely if attacks by the military continue, while the government says it reserves the right to retaliate if the Tigers attack security forces.

''Opportunities don't come often. Both sides will have to understand that,'' said defence spokesman and cabinet minister Keheliya Rambukwella. ''Anything that threatens national security will be responded to.'' Some analysts believe the time is not right for talks given the intensity of fighting, and fear the war could escalate.

Mutual Distrust

Each side accuses the other of trying to rekindle a two-decade conflict that has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983, and Nordic truce monitors see little will from either side to halt the violence.

The air force yesterday pounded rebel positions in the island's far north and a powerful roadside bomb was defused in the capital Colombo.

That in turn came after a series of clashes and military offensives since late July that have killed hundreds of civilians, troops and Tiger fighters and displaced tens of thousands of people from their homes.

The local stock market rose 1.19 per cent yesterday on the back of news the Tigers had agreed to talks, and continued to rise today after the government committed to talks overnight.

Analysts suspect the Tigers have agreed to talks to buy time to regroup after fierce aerial bombing, artillery and rocket fire by the security forces.

Trust between the foes has been almost completely eroded, and they continue to fight a parallel propaganda war in the media and on the internet.

The government said on Thursday it plans to double defence spending in 2007 as part of a budget bill to raise overall spending more than 40 per cent next year, which analysts say suggests the state is looking to upgrade its military hardware and capability.

Many investors have either cancelled or held back investments in the 23 billion dollars economy because of the renewed conflict, compounding the impact of high international oil prices that are stoking inflation in a land that produces no crude of its own.

''The peace process will be key,'' said Dushyanth Wijayasinghe, head of research at Asia Securities in Colombo.

''If they can take it forward, that will relieve a lot of pressure on the inflationary front and enable the corporate sector to take a longer view.''

Reuters

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