LTTE rejects peace talks offer

SP Thamilselvan, head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE) political wing, accused the government of trying to freeze the group out of Europe and of trying to convince the European Union to list it as a banned terrorist organisation. ‘‘The first round of talks should be held in Norway,’’ Thamilselvan told reporters here.

‘‘By living (in Europe), our people have established a certain place and status in those countries,’’ he added, accusing the government of seeking to ‘‘sever our relationship with the international community and sideline us.’’ The government, which announced its Asia talks offer on Friday after rowing back on its predecessors’ refusal to hold talks outside Sri Lanka, was not immediately available for comment.

The Tigers have threatened to resume their two-decade struggle next year unless Colombo comes up with a viable power-sharing blueprint, saying this is its last chance to avert a return to a war in which more than 64,000 people have died.

But both LTTE and the government are poles apart, each bickering at the other through the media, and a surge in violence that has sparked fears of a return to war is likely to continue, analysts say.

Nordic truce monitors on Saturday blamed the Tigers for shooting at a military helicopter on Wednesday in the first attack on an aircraft since the cease-fire was signed in 2002 — a charge the rebels reject.

‘‘The LTTE is urged to do all in its power to avoid similar incidents in future as such incidents can lead to serious consequences jeopardising the cease-fire,’’ Hagrup Haukland, head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission which over oversees the truce, said in a statement.

The truce is at its lowest ebb after two claymore mine attacks killed 14 soldiers earlier this month. Reuters