Saturday, April 15 2006 14:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lankan Government today (Apr 15, 2006) raised serious doubts about the sincerity of Tamil Tiger rebels to go ahead with the re-scheduled Swiss talks on saving their truce as troops thwarted another landmine attack.

The head of the government's Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), Palitha Kohona, summoned a press conference here to slam the Tigers over a decision to pull out of a transport agreement today.

The Tigers had wanted to hold discussions with their eastern military commanders in the island's north before they could go to Geneva. But today, after an agreement on the logistics, the Tigers pulled out.

Kohona said the LTTE protested against naval escorts for a boat ferrying Tiger cadres, but it was not a condition imposed by Colombo, but part of the deal the Tigers themselves had agreed to with Scandinavian truce monitors.

There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE to the latest developments over the transport of their field commanders between the east and the north.

"There is a serious doubt if the LTTE wants to go to Geneva," Kohona said adding, however, that Colombo was keen to go ahead with the talks.

He said there had been 'great provocation' by the Tigers by escalating attacks against Government forces and civilians in the past week, but yet Colombo agreed to go to Geneva to talk.

Meanwhile, the military today found four powerful Claymore mines in the island's north and the east and arrested one man who had set up one set of bombs in the north.

In the island's north-eastern port town of Trincomalee, the curfew was lifted after three people were killed in mob violence overnight.

Peace broker Norway announced yesterday that talks between Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels would be held from April 24, five days later than originally scheduled, in Geneva and would be shorten to two days instead of three as earlier planned.

The talks in Geneva were originally due to open on April 19, but the rebels said that they wanted more time to discuss security situation in the island's restive east with field commanders.

"The parties to the peace process in Sri Lanka have today agreed on a short postponement of the peace talks in Geneva," the Norwegian government said in a statement issued here.

Norway said the talks starting on April 24 would be shortened to two days instead of three as originally planned.