Colombo: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has accused the Tamil Tiger rebels of making excuses for staying away from the negotiating table and given them two weeks to decide the future of the faltering peace process.

The Sri Lankan Government believes there must "be a negotiated settlement... some sort of power sharing, " to deal with the rebels, Kumaratunga said in an interview on State-run television yesterday (Nov 16, 2004).

Spotlight: Lanka Peace Process

"At present the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is finding various excuses not to come for peace talks. The necessary environment needed for the resumption of talks has been created," Kumaratunga said adding, "Therefore, I request the LTTE to inform the Government, within this month that is November, if they are ready to commence peace talks."

Kumaratunga did not say what action her Government would take if the Tigers did not respond to her two-week deadline. She said that the LTTE had been changing its stance on resuming peace talks and were uninterested in getting to the table. She said the rebels had said there would be no point negotiating with her because her term was due to end soon. "You are dealing with a Government, not an individual," Kumaratunga said.