Colombo: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels today (Jun 6, 2004) said that they will use their proxy legislators to press for their demand for self-rule in the extremist-held Northern regions, a plan already rejected by President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said that they had asked 22 MPs of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to work towards implementing the 'Interim Self Governing Authority' (ISGA) a proposal they made in October last.

LTTE political wing leader S P Thamilselvam yesterday (Jun 5, 2005) met TNA MPs in the rebel-held town of Killinochchi and discussed the ISGA proposal, the Tigers said in a statement posted on their peace secretariat website.

"The TNA Parliamentarians have been provided with guidelines to work within and outside the Parliament, giving due considerations to the mandate of the Tamil people," the LTTE said.

Kumaratunga has already rejected the ISGA, which envisages political and financial autonomy for the Tigers, calling it a stepping-stone for a separate State.

"A lack of progress in the peace initiatives and the hesitant attitude of the President in recommencing the peace process were the important matters discussed," the LTTE quoted Thamilselvan as saying.

The Tigers have insisted on taking up the ISGA proposals first while Kumaratunga wants parallel discussions on the shape of a final peace settlement to a conflict that has claimed over 60,000 lives since 1972.