Sri Lanka plays down Tigers ban

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, says an impending ban on the Tamil Tigers is neither a matter of triumph for the Sinhalese people nor a defeat for the Tamil minority.

The Tamil Tigers are due to be banned in the UK under Britain's new anti-terrorism legislation.

Mr Kadirgamar urged the Tigers, who are fighting for a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka, not to view the ban as an attempt to derail a Norwegian-brokered peace initiative.

The rebels said they would continue working towards peace in spite of the British decision.

But they said it would impose severe restraints on the peace process.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service