COLOMBO, DEC 25: Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga called for peace and unity in the country as army and LTTE marked Christmas with unofficial truce.Defence Ministry spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said security forces were holding their fire as a sign of respect for the religious occasion, but it was not a reciprocal gesture for a ceasefire unilaterally announced by Tamil Tigers.Kaunaratne said it was customary for the military to scale down their activities on religious and cultural holdays.Despite the coincidence of the truce, the Norwegian-backed peace process in Sri Lanka remained deadlocked over de-escalating the conflict ahead of possible peace talks.The Government insisted that there can be no truce unless the rebels agree to sit round a table to discuss substantive political issues, while the LTTE maintained that a de-escalation was a necessary ``pre-requisite''.President Kumaratunga said in her Christmas message that Sri Lanka had reached a decisive stage in its quest for peace and said her Government was ``deeply committed to achieving the noble ideals of Christ''.Without making direct reference to the peace deadlock, she said Christmas was an ``opportune moment'' to respect rights of others.Defence Ministry said in the northern Jaffna, Government forces shot dead on LTTE sniper yesterday. Two more Tiger snipers were killed in the area where a government soldier was also killed in a rebel mortar bomb attack.
