Sri Lanka calls Christmas truce

The Defence Ministry says troops have killed 142 rebels

The Sri Lankan army says it has temporarily halted its offensive against separatist Tamil Tigers in the north of the country, despite the government's rejection of a truce offered by the rebels.

Military spokesmen said the battle front in the Jaffna peninsula had been quiet, apart from a few small incidents.

It is our brothers and sisters who continue to be destroyed by this horrendous war

President Chandrika Kumaratunga

The pause in the offensive will last for one day, Christmas Day, instead of the one month ceasefire proposed by the Tamil Tigers.

It follows heavy fighting on Friday in which the Sri Lankan army said hundreds of soldiers supported by fighter jets and artillery managed to make significant advances along a major supply route.

Child soldiers

The army said about 170 people had died in the onslaught, including 12 child rebel soldiers.

Soldiers have used makeshift bridges to advance

The day before it began, the rebels had made their offer of a truce - to begin at midnight on Christmas Eve - as a goodwill gesture to ease the way to peace talks.

Both sides have said they are in principle in favour of negotiations, which are currently being promoted by Norwegian government mediators.

The rebel ceasefire was formally rejected on Sunday in a statement from the prime minister and foreign minister, which called on the Tigers to "engage honestly in this opportunity for peace".

It said a ceasefire could be negotiated once talks began.

Christmas message

A Christmas Day message from President Chandrika Kumaratunga called the country's long-running ethnic conflict "a vicious and beastly war".

Rebel positions have been bombarded

She said it was pushing Sri Lanka to the brink of ruin by eroding its wealth and moral values, and that her government was deeply committed to achieving "the noble ideals of Christ".

Sri Lanka is mainly a Buddhist nation with a small Christian minority, but Christmas is a national holiday.

"It is our brothers and sisters who continue to be destroyed by this horrendous war," she said.

The BBC's Colombo correspondent, Frances Harrison, says the government's rejection of the Tiger ceasefire 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.

Progaganda

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.

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.

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.