Wednesday, February 15 2006 20:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels today (Feb 15 2006) pressed for autonomy and said that a rejection of their basic demand for a 'Tamil homeland' could seriously undermine the upcoming face-to-face talks with the government.

The Tamil Tiger rebels took serious exception to remarks attributed to President Mahinda Rajapakse in a media interview that he would not grant a homeland for the island's minority Tamils.

"The President had totally rejected the Tamil homeland concept and emphasised that a political solution to the racial conflict would be looked into only within the parameters of the unitary constitution," the Tigers said in a statement.

"The Tamil people are shocked over President Rajapakse's rejection of their basic political aspirations." However, the government, in a statement said that a pro-rebel website had misquoted the President.

"Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) strongly condemns these sentiments expressed by the President that tend to belittle the political rights of the Tamil people," the Tigers said in a strongly-worded statement ahead of talks next week.

The two sides are due to meet in Geneva next week to try to save their truce that had come under renewed pressure following a spike in violence since December.

"President Rajapakse, hastily going to town without knowing correctly the deep contradictions and complexities of the Tamil-Sinhala racial conflict, would seriously impact the current efforts for talks," the Tigers said.