The Sri Lankan government Thursday rejected a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels' offer to hold peace talks inside LTTE-held Kilinochchi.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet press briefing in Colombo, government spokesperson Nimal Siripala de Silva said the government is against the LTTE's offer to hold the talks in their controlled Kilinochchi.

He also said the Tigers had rejected the government's offer to hold the talks in Omanthai, where there had been several discussions between the government and the LTTE previously.

The LTTE declined Omanthai and proposed Kilinochchi, but the Sri Lankan government declined the LTTE offer, he said.

He also said the LTTE initially wanted the talks in Oslo, but it had changed to Kilinochchi after the government expressed its opposition.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Aug. 19 wrote to Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, seeking immediate talks with the LTTE to review the Cease-fire Agreement.

The President requested an urgent meeting between the government and the LTTE. to review the practical functioning of the ceasefire with a view to preventing further killings and other violations in the wake of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar's assassination.

Source: Xinhua