The Tamil Tigers said on Monday that they were ready for a ceasefire with the Sri Lankan government, but refused to lay down their arms. With the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam cornered in a fast shrinking small landmass in the north easter coast of the country, the rebels appeal for a truce came in a letter to the United Nations and other foreign powers.
LTTE political chief B Nadesan, in a letter to the United Nations, said that international calls for the rebels to lay down their arms could not resolve the armed conflict as "weapons were the only protective shield of the Tamil people."
"Arms are also our tool for political liberation," Nadesan told the United Nations in the letter, copies of which were also sent to the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Japan and one time peace-broker on the island Norway.
"We are ready to discuss cooperate and work together