Colombo, Sept 17: The United States today asked Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels to be "realistic" in making demands on the Colombo government and wanted the guerrillas to end terror tactics and return to peace talks. "It is unfortunate that this anniversary finds the talks in suspension," a statement released by the us embassy here quoting the state department on the anniversary of the Norwegian-brokered peace talks between the government and the rebels said. "We also remain concerned about continuing political assassinations by the LTTE and call on the tigers to abandon terrorism, including political assassinations and to comply with the terms of the ceasefire agreement they signed," the statement said. The LTTE has been accused of killing over 40 of its rivals and military and police intelligence operatives despite a ceasefire they entered into with the government on February 23 last year.
The Tigers suspended talks in April after accusing Colombo of failing to deliver on promises made at six rounds of talks.
The guerrillas are yet to announce their response to the government's offer of an interim administrative structure made on July 17.
"We hope that the Tamil Tigers' response to the July 17 government proposal for an interim administration will be realistic and will allow the two sides to return to the table at an early date," the us statement said.
The latest US statement came as two top Norwegian peace brokers arrived in the island in a bid to jumpstart the stalled process. Bureau Report