COLOMBO, Nov 10: Sri Lanka's main opposition today called for talks with Tiger rebels who scored a wave of successes this week and said the government's war-for-peace strategy had proved a fatal failure, reports AFP.

Former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he hoped to start talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels and planned to integrate the militants into the government's armed forces if he was elected.

Wickremesinghe who is challenging President Chandrika Kumaratunga at the December 21 polls said he was confident of an outright victory as the ruling People's Alliance

(PA) had failed to deliver peace.

"I am not promising peace in 24 hours, but 1 am willing to take the first practical step." Wickremesinghe said, accusing President Kumaratunga of scuttling several opportunities to resume negotiations.

President Kumaratunga came to power in 1994 promts ing peace and opened a dialogue with the LITE, but the guerrillas abruptly pulled out of a 100-day truce and resumed their long-drawn out campaign for a separate state.

The government had said it was forced to fight the rebels, but Wickremesinghe said the administration failed to make use of later militaiy gains to force the rebels to talk.