Tigers urged to join funding talks

The United States has urged Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels to attend an important donor conference in Japan next month.

US envoy Christina Rocca is listening to many local concerns

US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca said it would help the peace process as a whole if the Tigers were at the meeting.

Japan has given the rebels until Wednesday to decide if they will take part in the Tokyo conference.

The BBC's Frances Harrison in Colombo says the Tokyo conference is crucial as it is expected Sri Lanka will attract up to three billion dollars of aid if the Tigers show they can work with the government they fought for so many years.

Rebel officials earlier pulled out of the proposed discussions and suspended peace talks.

No invitation

"It is in the best interest of the peace process, the Tamil people and the Tigers themselves that the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] be at the table in Tokyo," Ms Rocca told journalists in Colombo on Wednesday.

The assistant secretary of state also defended her government's decision not to invite the Tigers to Washington, saying they would remain on the US terrorists until they renounced violence and honoured democracy and human rights.

Ms Rocca also renewed the call by the US for Sri Lanka's rival political parties to work together for the sake of peace.

"In each visit I have shared the international community's fervent hope that these quarrels be set aside so that a clear, consistent and united Sri Lankan voice is heard at Tokyo," she said.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe are engaged in a bitter dispute over the control of monies from the national lottery.

The row led to talk of snap polls creating a renewed sense of political instability.

Despite Ms Rocca's appeal, President Kumaratunga has told the Mr Wickramasinghe she has no intention of returning control of the lottery to him.