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Lanka rules out talks with rebels

The Sri Lankan government has ruled out any peace talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels, as its military reported battlefield successes.

"There is no move on our part to start the process, no move whatsoever,'' Constitutional Affairs Minister Lakshman Peiris told the media in Colombo.

Peiris was reacting to a news magazine interview by a Tamil Tiger spokesman, who said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were not averse to resuming dialogue with the Sri Lankan government through a facilitator.

Citing the examples of Kosovo and Bosnia, Tiger spokesman V Rudrakumaran, a US-based lawyer, told the Midweek Mirror in London that any major Western power could bring the two sides together to talk.

Peiris said his administration was not against a facilitator, but ruled out any negotiations for now.

UNI

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