Colombo: Making a positive appraisal of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V Prabhakaran's latest demand for regional self-rule as a possible alternative to total separation, Sri Lanka on November 28 said it meant a "paradigm shift" in the rebel group's thinking.

"We find much of the substance (of Prabhakaran's annual address yesterday) helpful and encouraging," Cabinet spokesman and government negotiator G L Peiris told reporters.

"They are now shifting away from the demand for a separate state to a solution within the country," he said.

Playing down the guerrilla leader's threat to revive his campaign for Independence, if his demand for self-rule based on "internal self-determination" was rejected, Peiris said the speech was markedly different from the ones delivered in previous years.

He said the secessionist option was only related to a "hypothetical situation" of breakdown of peace talks.

However, as the government itself was ready to offer substantial devolution to the Tamils, there was little chance of the present peace process failing, he said.

Peiris said the positions of the government and the LTTE were not antithetical to each other. "There are and there will remain differences, but the purpose is to narrow them down.

"Of course, we don't agree with all of it, there may be some deficiencies," he said, referring to the contents of Prabhakaran's 'Heroes' Day' address that hailed the government's peace initiative and reiterated the LTTE's commitment to a negotiated political settlement. MORE PTI KV BD

Peiris, who is also the Constitutional Affairs Minister, sought to defend the LTTE from criticism that it had failed to renounce violence in response to a call by the US at a peace support meeting in Oslo recently.

He quoted remarks from LTTE negotiator Anton Balasingham's remarks in Oslo to claim that the rebel group had turned away from the path of war and violence. He criticised "spoiler elements" in the media for giving an interpretation to the contrary.

Peiris said the government would not accept the existence of any LTTE "court" or parallel legal system in government-controlled territory.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had instructed the police chief to dismantle any such court in government areas, he added.

The Oslo conference on November 25 had achieved its objective of raising political support for the peace process from the global community, he said, adding a strong message had gone out from world governments that there should be an end to violence and a political solution within the framework of Sri Lanka's unity and integrity.

Peiris rejected a suggestion that India's low-key presence in Oslo was an adverse development, contending that India's support to the peace process was not in doubt.

In a sign that more countries were eager to contribute to the peace efforts, Japan would host a meeting of government and LTTE negotiators in March next year, and a larger fund raising conference in May, he said.

South Africa had expressed a desire to host one session of talks, and this was being considered, he added.

PTI