Colombo, Aug 19: A Tamil Tiger delegation of 11 members arrived here today enroute to Paris for a crucial meeting that will decide the future of Sri Lanka's peace talks, officials said. The members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were flown in by Airforce helicopters from rebel-held territory to Sri Lanka's only international airport. They are to travel to Paris tomorrow for an internal meeting where the LTTE will decide their response to the government's last ditch offer of greater political autonomy through an interim administration. The Tigers are set to meet with their legal and constitutional experts at the closed-door meet in Paris arranged by peace broker Norway with the help of the Sri Lankan and French governments. The LTTE's political wing leader S P Thamilselvan and the eastern military wing leader Karuna are heading the delegation. The Paris talks are taking place amid an upsurge in violence in the island's multi-ethnic eastern region where four Muslim men and a Tamil rival were killed by alleged Tiger rebels in the past week.


The guerrillas are expected to come up with a formal response to the government's July 17 offer of an interim administrative council for the island's embattled regions.


The Tigers pulled out of peace talks on April 21 after accusing the government of going back on promises made at six rounds of talks since September. The LTTE made the establishment of an interim administration a pre-condition for rejoining the Norwegian-brokered peace negotiating process.

Bureau Report