Thursday, August 3 2006 13:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guwahati: New Delhi is seeking a formal letter from the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for the release of the outfit's five top jailed leaders and to begin direct peace talks with the rebel leadership.

National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan explained the government's position to noted Assamese writer Indira Goswami in New Delhi late Wednesday.

"The government wants a formal letter from the ULFA seeking the release of the five jailed leaders and giving consent to sit for direct talks," Goswami, sought by the ULFA to mediate for talks with New Delhi, told sources.

"I shall be communicating the government's stand about the letter to the ULFA leadership," he said.

The ULFA, a rebel group fighting for an independent Assamese homeland since 1979, has offered to hold direct talks with New Delhi if five of its senior leaders were released from jail. The ULFA also wants the issue of sovereignty or independence to be discussed when formal peace talks begin.

In October last year, the ULFA nominated an 11-member civil society team called the People's Consultative Group (PCG) headed by Goswami to begin exploratory talks with the government.

Three rounds of talks have been held between the PCG and the central government emissaries one of the meetings was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and another by Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

While the prime minister said his government was ready to discuss all issues with the ULFA, the home minister reacted positively to the demand for releasing the jailed rebels and called for restraint by both security forces and the militants for facilitating a bilateral ceasefire.

But the peace process was threatened with security forces killing at least 16 ULFA rebels in the past three weeks.

"We are very disturbed and the government of India is to be blamed if the peace process breaks down," Goswami said.

The ULFA is one of the most organised rebel armies in the northeast that is home to more than 30-odd separatist groups fighting for demands ranging from secession to more autonomy.

More than 15,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Assam since the ULFA's inception in 1979.