Washington, Feb 15: The United States will consider removing the Tamil Tigers from its list of terrorist organisations if the Sri Lankan rebel group proves it has renounced violence, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has said. He also warned that the country's drive to end a civil war which has claimed 60,000 lives also depended on unity in the government in Colombo, which has been wracked by infighting.
Armitage said that if the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam moved beyond terror tactics and proved it was committed to peace "the United States will certainly consider removing the LTTE from the list of foreign terrorist organisations." Groups on the list face a range of sanctions, including the seizure of assets held in the united states and the denial of travel visas.

Armitage, who has taken a close interest in five rounds of peace talks sponsored by Norway, warned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were on the cusp of tough choices. "The LTTE is going to have to take a number of difficult steps to demonstrate that it remains committed to a political solution," Armitage said at a conference sponsored by the center for strategic and international studies yesterday.
"The tigers need to honour the restrictions and conditions that the ceasefire - and future negotiations - set on their arms supply."

The momentum of peace talks was jarred earlier this month when three Tiger rebels blew themselves up, sinking a trawler believed to have been smuggling ammunition in violation of truce accords. Bureau Report