Govt rejects "laughable" call for truce

Government today rejected fresh calls for a truce with the LTTE as security forces took another village previously held by the cornered guerrillas.

Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the government was firmly committed to wiping out "terrorism" and described the demand for a ceasefire from a Tamil Tiger proxy as "laughable."
"We have taken a policy decision to completely root out terrorism," Rambukwella told reporters here. "There will be no ceasefire with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)."

The ceasefire appeal had come from the Tamil National Alliance, which has 21 legislators in the 225-member national parliament.
Government troops are on the verge of crushing the LTTE and ending their 37-year campaign for an independent Tamil homeland after pushing the rebels back into a small stretch of coastal jungle -- less than 100 square kilometres (38 square miles) in size -- in the island's northeast.

A senior military official said security forces had taken another village that was previously under Tiger control.
AFP