December 9, 2003	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1424

SRINAGAR, India, Dec 8: Sri Lanka’s army chief said Monday that Tamil rebels were recruiting members and assembling arms in defiance of a ceasefire in case peace talks with the Colombo government falter.

“They (rebels) are getting ready. They are keeping their options open. They are recruiting people,” Lieutenant General Lionel Balagalle, on a one-day visit to Indian Kashmir, told reporters in Srinagar.

“They are collecting arms and ammunition. Importing from outside. Illegal shifting. All that is taking place,” Balagalle added.

“Some of it has been controlled by the Sri Lankan navy,” the general said at the Indian army’s Kashmir headquarters before flying back to New Delhi. He said the Sri Lankan army would not be caught napping.

“We are also getting ready (in case) something goes wrong,” he said, adding: “We don’t want to be caught out.”

The general, however, said he saw no reason why the talks with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should be “derailed”.

“There are differences of opinions but as far as LTTE is concerned they have openly said they don’t want to move back to war at this point of time.”

Peace talks between the Colombo government and the LTTE to end three decades of civil war have been deadlocked since the sixth round at Hakone, Japan, in March, after the rebels suspended their participation the following month, saying the government was failing to deliver on its promises.

In November, just as the Tigers said they were willing to rejoin the talks, President Chandrika Kumaratunga sacked three ministers from the government of her rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and took control of the ministries of defence, interior and information.

The ensuing power struggle led peace broker Norway to suspend its mediation role, saying it needed clarity on who was actually in charge in Colombo.—AFP