COLOMBO: President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Tuesday appointed a Commission to probe recent attacks on LTTE cadres thus paving the way for a thaw between the Tigers and the government's coalition partners.

In an unprecedented move, President Kumaratunga also said that the government is willing to talk to the LTTE on its 'Interim Authority' proposal.

The decree comes in the wake of three female leaders being fired at on Monday in eastern Batticaloa by gunmen suspected to be those supporting the LTTE renegade militant Karuna.

The attack comes two weeks after the LTTE eastern militant Kaushalyan was shot dead along with six other LTTE men - bringing the country a step short of another war. The president's surprise move comes following the LTTE's accusation that the killings were master-minded by the military authorities.

The Presidential Secretariat in a statement said a Presidential Commission comprising two high court judges has been appointed to inquire and report on the mysterious circumstances which led to the attacks on LTTE cadres in the Batticaloa and Ampara districts. The commission has been directed to submit a report within a month from the date the hearing begins.

The full scale inquiry on killings of LTTE cadres is significant both because it is the first such move made by the government in order to uphold the cease fire. Secondly, it has been done with the disapproval of the chief political ally of the government, the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, who last week had unleashed a fury protesting against a government statement issued to mark the 3rd anniversary of the cease fire.

The government statement came days after President Kumaratunge in a public rally blasted her anti LTTE political co-habitants asking them to 'leave if they so wish', blaming the radicals of being in the way of the governments quest for a political settlement with the LTTE.

"There has been no distinct policy change with regard to the government reaction to the LTTE's Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA)" claimed the Deputy Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat, Dr John Gunaratne.

Following there being no government clarification on its statement despite the Marxist JVP clamouring for one, Dr Gunaratne dismissed the JVP's allegations that the government was about to bestow the LTTE's much craved for ISGA as a total 'misinterpretation'.

The proposals of the Interim Self Governing Authority of the Tamil Tigers were dismissed two years ago by the present Alliance regime as a blue print for a separate state.

Meanwhile, visiting Norwegian peace facilitator Erik Solheim will soon have one success under his belt with the government and the LTTE signing an agreement to deal with the tsunami funds. However, it is interesting to note that of the list of things that the Marxist JVP is vehemently against, the joint agreement with the LTTE ranks high. As one analyst quipped it is a matter of time until the tug-of-war between President Kumaratunge and the JVP ends marking a decisive factor in the country's political future and its peace process.