Sri Lanka rejects rebel ceasefire

The Tigers still hold a stretch of the Jaffna highway

The Sri Lankan Government has rejected the offer of a ceasefire by Tamil Tiger rebels, amid reports of heavy fighting in the north of the country.

The government said it did not believe further gestures of goodwill were necessary, when it had clearly indicated its wish to engage in peace talks.

On Thursday, the Tigers issued a statement in London offering a unilateral one-month ceasefire to ease the way for peace talks. It said the ceasefire would take effect from midnight on Sunday.

Soon after the announcement, Sri Lankan troops mounted new attacks, which left at least 76 people dead.

Pressure is growing for an end to the conflict

Reports say more than 1,000 government troops, backed by artillery and air support, took part in the ground assault.

The statement from the prime minister and foreign minister, with the approval of the president, called on the Tigers to "engage honestly in this opportunity for peace".

It said military operations would continue until the Tigers made such a move.

A ceasefire would arise when negotiations had "proceeded to the mutual satisfaction of both sides," it added.

Mistrust

The BBC's Colombo correspondent, Frances Harrison, says the government statement reflects a feeling of deep mistrust. Many in Colombo believe the Tigers would exploit any lull in the fighting to regroup.

But the Tigers have said they think it is impossible to talk peace while still waging war.

There has been growing international pressure on both sides to come to the negotiating table.

But senior Sri Lankan ministers who oppose peace talks have said they do not mind losing the international propaganda war so long as they are victorious on the battlefield.

'High casualties'

The Sri Lankan military says it has intercepted rebel radio communications reporting the deaths of 124 Tamil Tigers in the latest clashes.

Heavy losses are reported on both sides

A military spokesman, Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne, said 18 people were killed in fighting on Saturday afternoon, many of them young women.

There has been no independent confirmation of the army's account of the casualties.

The military spokesman said the bodies of 30 rebels killed in Friday's battle had been handed over to the Jaffna hospital for collection by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

There has been no statement from the Tamil Tigers.

Battle for highway

The army has been trying to recapture the main road to the town of Jaffna and it says it has succeeded, but for a 2km (one mile) stretch still in Tiger hands.

The military spokesman said 25 government troops had been killed on Friday.

The army says more than half the dead rebels sent to the Jaffna hospital were under-age soldiers, some as young as 14. But the claim has not been confirmed independently.

More than 60,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the 17-year-old conflict since the rebels began their fight for an independent homeland in the north and east of Sri Lanka.