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US asks Tigers to end terror, return to talks

AFP, Colombo
The United States marked the first anniversary of Sri Lanka's stalled peace talks by asking Tiger rebels to abandon "terrorism" and make realistic proposals to allow the negotiations to resume, the US embassy here said Wednesday.
"It is unfortunate that this anniversary finds the talks in suspension," it said in a statement, quoting a US State Department spokesman in Washington.
"... we call on the Tigers to abandon terrorism, including political assassination, and to comply with the terms of the ceasefire agreement they signed."
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been accused of killing more than 40 of its rivals and military and police intelligence operatives despite signing a
ceasefire with the government on February 23 last year.
The United States said it strongly supported the Norwegian-backed peace process aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed that has claimed over 60,000 lives.
The first round of face-to-face talks opened on September 16 last year at a naval base in Thailand.
The Tigers suspended talks in April after accusing Colombo of failing to deliver on promises made during six rounds of negotiations.
They said they would return only if the government gave them political power to run the embattled northeastern part of the country.
The guerrillas are yet to announce their response to a government offer on July 17 of an interim administrative structure.
"We hope that the Tamil Tigers'
response to the July 17 government proposal for an interim administration will be realistic and will allow the two sides to return to the table at an early date," the US statement said.
The United States has been taking a hands-on approach to support the peace process in Sri Lanka and has also stepped up its military cooperation with the Sri Lankan security forces in recent times.
The latest US statement came as two top Norwegian peace brokers arrived in the island in a bid to jump start the stalled process.
Norway's deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen and special envoy Erik Solheim were starting a three-day visit to the island and were due to hold talks with political leaders of the LTTE.