LTTE offers peace talks on self-rule condition

Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels said on Monday they were ready to resume peace talks with the government if it accepts their proposal for power-sharing, a plan the President has previously rejected. The proposal came in a meeting between Tiger representatives and envoys from Norway who are trying to get the stalled peace talks back on track and who said after talks a day earlier with President Chandrika Kumaratunga that progress would take time.

‘‘The LTTE is prepared to resume negotiations on the same principles and atmosphere as it did with the previous government in Colombo,’’ the leader of the rebels’ political wing, S.P. Thamilselvan, was quoted as saying on the Tamilnet website.