Sri Lanka rebels say battle army in no-man's land

COLOMBO, Nov 23 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers said today they were engaged in fierce fighting with the army in no-man's land in the island's restive east, with government troops with tanks trying to breach their defence lines.

''There is an intense confrontation going on,'' Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan told Reuters by telephone from the rebels' northern stronghold.

The military said it had no details of any confrontation in the east.

Ilanthiraiyan said the battle was raging near a ''border'' that separates rebel from government territory in the east, near the rebel-held town of Vakarai, where an estimated 30,000 displaced persons have fled to camps.

''They are moving with tanks and armoured personnel carriers towards our forward defence line,'' he added. ''They are trying to come into our territory. They have breached the no-man's zone and are still in it.'' The incident follows two days of air force raids on Tiger territory. The island's main international donors appealed in vain to both sides on Tuesday to halt a new chapter in a two-decade civil war.

REUTERS AKJ PM1001