Colombo, June 12: President Chandrika Kumaratunga was studying the crisis in the island's peace process after Tiger rebels rejected the Sri Lankan government's latest proposal of a "provisional administrative structure," her office said. President Kumaratunga was looking at the implications of the latest crisis, but was awaiting a briefing from her cohabitation government before reacting to the latest developments, spokesman Harim Peiris said.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) yesterday rejected Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's offer of a provisional administrative structure and insisted they need political power through an interim council to open peace negotiations.

The talks process is deadlocked since April 21 and the latest tiger statement is seen as the strongest articulating their hard-line in the Norwegian-backed peace process.
Diplomatic sources here also noted the strong language used by the tigers to attack the international community for supporting the Colombo government.

There was no formal reaction from the US or Japanese embassies or the cohabitation government of Wickremesinghe. The premier returned home today after attending the Tokyo donors' conference which pledged some $4.5 billion in aid to Sri Lanka and warned the tigers to resume negotiations.
However, the Tigers said the Tokyo Declaration was not binding on them as they had not taken part in the conference as part of their protest against what they call slow delivery on the part of the government.

Bureau Report