Colombo: Rejecting a call by Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga for talks on "core issues", Tamil Tiger rebels today (May 26, 2004) said the parleys could begin only if the Government discusses their demand for self-rule.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said their proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) that envisages greater political and financial autonomy to the Tigers should be in place first.

In a statement, the LTTE said that they made their opposition clear to Norway's special peace envoy Erik Solheim during his 90-minute meeting with the Tiger political wing leader S P Thamilselvan in the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi.

Solheim had travelled to Kilinochchi in a military helicopter in a desperate bid to secure agreement from the Tigers on reviving peace negotiations, which remained stalled since April 2003.

Kumaratunga wants the Tigers to start parallel talks on a final peace settlement to the island's drawn out Tamil separatist conflict, which has claimed over 60,000 lives since 1972.

However, Tigers are now insisting on the ISGA proposal being implemented before any substantive talks. The Norwegian-brokered peace talks remain suspended since April 2003.

"Thamilselvan said that institutionalising the ISGA should take place first so that we can demonstrate to the people that their urgent humanitarian needs would be effectively met with by the ISGA," the LTTE said.