Lanka rebels warn army offensive may derail talks

COLOMBO, Oct 7: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers said they might pull out of peace talks planned later this month if the military continues a new offensive in the east, as sporadic artillery duels continued today.

The army was around 3 miles (5 km) inside Tiger territory in the restive eastern district of Batticaloa early today, officials said, after pushing through the rebels' forward defence lines yesterday to the alarm of aid workers and truce monitors.

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.

''Unless the Sri Lankan military halts its actions, we will be forced into an unfortunate situation where we will have to re-examine our decision (to hold talks),'' Tiger political wing leader SP Thamilselvan said in a letter sent to Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer overnight and obtained by Reuters.

The military justified yesterday's offensive saying the Tigers had attacked their frontline positions in Batticaloa and in the besieged army-held northern Jaffna peninsula, which is cut off from the rest of the island by rebel territory.

The military said the rebels had destroyed a bridge north of Batticaloa as security forces advanced towards a village called Ponichchankeni.

''Our troops pushed past the rebel forward defence line as far as Ponichchankeni,'' a military spokesman said, asking not to be named. ''There is artillery and mortar fire on and off,'' he said, adding that the military was trying to rebuild the bridge.

Across the water from the village, and a further 3 miles north lies the rebel-held town of Vakarai, where the Tigers have a large base and where thousands of displaced civilians are sheltering. International aid agencies had already pulled staff out of Vakarai because of security fears.

Officials said many Tiger casualties were lying near the forward defence line that separates rebel from government territory in Batticaloa on the east coast.

Military officers have said they are keen to inflict as many casualties on the rebels as possible before any talks.

The Tigers were not immediately available for comment, but pro-rebel website www.tamilnet.com quoted rebel eastern political wing leader S. Elilan as saying the rebels had thwarted a three-pronged attempt by the military to push past Ponichchankeni.

''This offensive demonstrated that Colombo was not sincere in proceeding with talks,'' Elilan told the Web site.

The government and the Tigers have agreed to hold talks in Geneva on October 28-29. Many ordinary Sri Lankans believe the time is not right for talks given the intensity of fighting, and fear the war could escalate.

The government and Tigers each accuse the other of trying to force a return to a two-decade conflict that has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983.

Hundreds of civilians, troops and rebels have died since late July this year, the worst violence since a 2002 ceasefire.

Analysts suspect the Tigers have agreed to talks to buy time to regroup after a series of military defeats and fierce assaults by the security forces.

REUTERS