Tigers hold talks with Lankan president

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a proxy political movement of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), had its first direct meeting with Kumaratunga since the April 2 parliamentary elections late Thursday.

The TNA, which has 22 legislators in the 225-member assembly where Kumaratunga's Freedom Alliance is a minority government, insisted that a Tiger blueprint for self-rule be implemented to jumpstart stalled talks.

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Tamil politicians who were at the talks said they insisted on the LTTE's proposal for an "Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA)" granting them financial and political autonomy be the basis for talks.

There was no immediate word from Kumaratunga's office, but she had earlier called for parallel talks on "core issues", or the form and shape of a final political solution to be taken up at the start of talks.

Peace broker Norway stepped up its shuttle diplomacy last month to restart the peace negotiations which have been suspended since April last year, but failed to secure agreement from the two parties.

Kumaratunga dismissed the previous government in February and staged snap polls that her party narrowly won in April. She had accused the previous administration of making too many concessions to the Tigers.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist conflict over the past three decades.

However, despite the breakdown in negotiations, both sides have been observing an Oslo-brokered truce that has been in place since February 23, 2002.