Nakhon Pathom (Thailand): In a major boost to bring peace in strife-torn Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on November 3 dropped its demand for an interim administration and announced it would allow political parties to function in its strongholds in the North and East, saying that its ultimate aim is to enter "political mainstream".

"It is the ultimate aim of the LTTE to enter the political mainstream," LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham told a crowded press conference at the conclusion of four days of hard negotiations with the Sri Lankan government.

He also admitted for the first time that LTTE had recruited child soldiers during the two decades of war with the Sri Lankan forces, but said, "We do not recruit any underage persons following Conventions of the United Nations."

"We have been releasing quite a large number of young persons. They have been handed over to their parents. There are no child soldiers in the North East," he said.

Noting that since the political mainstream in Sri Lanka was Democracy, he said that LTTE has to accept other political groups.

"We are willing to do that. We will allow other political groups to participate in the North and East," he said.

While North is Tamil-majority area, the east has a mixed ethnic composition.

PTI