Sri Lankan Tamil Rebels likely to Extend CeasefireSri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels are likely to extend their current unilateral ceasefire which is due to end next Tuesday by another one month, a rebel leader said on Wednesday.Anton Balasingham, the spokesman and theoretician of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels said in an interview with London-based Tamil Guardian newspaper that the ceasefire is likely to be extended. He also asked Norway to broaden its role in possible peace talks between the government and the LTTE to end the 18-year ethnic war instead of acting only as a facilitator. Norway has engaged in bringing the two warring sides to the negotiating table during the last two year but no breakthrough has been made so far. The LTTE rebels started their unilateral ceasefire on Christmas eve last year and they extended their truce monthly ever since then. Government forces also observed their four-day New Year truce which ended early Tuesday but without further extension. The rebels have been fighting against government forces since 1983 for a separatist Tamil homeland in the north and east of the country. The bloody war has claimed over 60,000 lives. |
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