Sri Lanka rebels leave for talks

The rebels want autonomy for minority Tamils

A team of Tamil Tiger rebels has left for Geneva for crucial talks with Sri Lanka's government, officials say.

The meeting on 22-23 February will be the first face-to-face talks at such a high level for nearly three years.

The two sides decided to meet in Switzerland after negotiations by Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim.

The two days of talks are aimed at boosting a threadbare four-year truce. Mounting violence in recent months has raised fears of a return to civil war.

A spokesman for the Tamil Tigers, Daya Master, said a four-member team of rebels had left the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi for Colombo by a Sri Lankan air force helicopter.

The team then flew out of Colombo late on Friday.

SP Thamilselvan, a senior rebel leader, is leading the delegation, unnamed officials told the AFP news agency.

Mr Solheim has said the talks were "a small but very significant step towards putting the peace process back on a positive track".

Soaring violence

The ceasefire agreement in February 2002 preceded several rounds of peace talks, which stalled in April 2003.

Since new President Mahinda Rajapakse was elected after a hard-line campaign last November, killings and abductions in the north and east have soared.

At least 120 people - including about 80 soldiers and sailors and many civilians - have died in the upsurge of violence, which has abated since the deal to hold talks was reached.

The attacks on the military have been blamed on the rebels, who deny involvement.

Tamil Tiger supporters say more than 40 Tamils have been killed by the security forces in a series of attacks since the start of December. Others blame some of those deaths on the rebels or other armed groups.

More than 60,000 people died during two decades of conflict in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil Tigers want autonomy for minority Tamils in the north and east. President Rajapakse has said the solution to the conflict lies in a unitary state.

In another development, the authorities released four Tamil Tiger rebels in the north-eastern port of Trincomalee.

A spokeswoman for European ceasefire monitors in Sri Lanka said those released belonged to the rebels' naval wing, the Sea Tigers.