& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

LANKAN GOVT SAYS

Tigers turn down truce talks

Afp, Colombo
Sri Lanka yesterday said Tamil Tiger rebels did not agree to a bid by peace broker Norway to restart talks on a ceasefire imperilled after the August assassination of the country's foreign minister.
Norwegian envoy Trond Furuhovde told the government that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they were not ready to hold talks on the ceasefire, government spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva told reporters.
"We are informed that the LTTE remains unchanged and they are not ready for talks on the ceasefire agreement or the violations of human rights," de Silva told reporters.
He said Furuhovde and United Nations rights envoy Ian Martin were unable to get an agreement on a venue to hold direct talks between Colombo and the LTTE on saving the troubled ceasefire or an agreement on monitoring human rights violations.
"The LTTE is not prepared to change their position and it is our perception and understanding that both of them were very disappointed with the attitude of the LTTE," said de Silva who is also the minister of health.
The LTTE wants direct talks with Colombo either in their political headquarters of Kilinochchi in the island's northeast, or abroad, a demand rejected by the government.
Norway proposed holding talks at Sri Lanka's only international airport, but that was rejected by the LTTE.
Separately, de Silva denied that the crash of an unmanned military spy drone over rebel-held territory Wednesday was a violation of the Oslo-brokered truce that went into effect from February 2002.
"Due to a technical problem the plane crashed," he said adding that the air force could fly over rebel territory and that it was not on an offensive mission.
Scandinavian truce monitors are yet to announce their position on the incident.
Furuhovde, who had earlier headed the truce monitoring committee, told reporters here last week that he appraised himself of the positions taken by the two parties.
"I cannot say if the talks can be held in the near future," Furuhovde said, adding that both sides may await the outcome of the November 17 presidential election before fresh negotiations.
Direct peace talks were put on hold in April 2003 and diplomatic efforts since then to get the two sides talking have failed.
The assassination of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on August 12 added a new urgency to resume talks between the two sides over allegations that the LTTE was responsible for the killing. The rebels denied involvement.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in the drawn-out conflict
between 1972 and 2002 when the truce went into effect.
However, despite the ceasefire, hundreds of people have been killed and most of the deaths have been blamed on the Tigers and a rival faction.
Meanwhile, security was stepped up for Sri Lanka's two main presidential candidates on fears that they may be the targets of Tamil rebel assassins, the government said yesterday.
The security was increased after Ports Minister Mangala Samaraweera said he feared that Tamil Tiger rebels may launch attacks against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and former premier Ranil Wickremesingh before the November 17 poll.
"Security for the two candidates was... strengthened and they were provided additional security personnel, vehicles and other logistics as directed by the president," a government statement said.