COLOMBO. Dec 31: More than 1.000 peace activists from across war-tom Sri Lanka will meet next week and call on the government and rebels to negotiate. a spokesman said, reports AP.

"This is no ordinary peace effort we have been working on this for the past five months.” Ajit Rupeslnghe told reporters Tuesday. Rupeslnghe is chairman of the National Peace Council, an umbrella organisation of seven groups that includes Tamils and Sinhalese — Srl Lanka's warring ethnic groups — as well as religious leaders.

Rupeslnghe said 1.500 people are expected to attend Sunday's convention in Colombo, the capital. The meeting will end with an appeal to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerillas group and the government to hold peace talks.

Tamil Tigers say they can prosper only in an independent Tamil nation. The conflict, which has divided the predominantly Buddhist nation of 18 million people along ethnic lines, has claimed more than 51,000 lives in the past 14 years.

"Both sides understand that, by military means they can' never end the conflict, At best

either of the parties can achieve a limited military victory on the ground, but that is not going to end the ethnic conflict. It will spawn more hatred." Ru-pesinghe said.

Our understanding is that both the sides are waiting for a proper opportunity to talk with each other and at the same time not to lose face.” he said.

The last time the Tigers and the government held talks was in April. 1995. Negotiations broke off after the rebels staged surprise attacks on the military.

Some Sri Lankan policy planners believe that the Tigers may be ready to return to the negotiating table because of heavy battlefield losses they have suffered in the past two years.

There was no immediate comment from the Tigers on the new peace move.

Tne government offered an opening earlier this month, when Justice Minister Lakshman Peiris said: "It Is important for the Sri Lankan government to keep a door ajar for possible negotiations at a future date.

The government has not banned tne Tigers because that would make negotiations illegal.