Colombo: Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today (Mar 24, 2004) said he wants to resume peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels within a month if his party was returned to power at next week's elections.

Wickremesinghe said he hoped to revive the negotiations, which remain on hold since April last year and accused his rival, President Chandrika Kumaratunga of sabotaging his peace drive.

"We hope to start the negotiations before the end of April," Wickremesinghe said in a live television interview.

The proposals of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for an interim self-governing authority will be the basis for the talks, Wickremesinghe said.

"The LTTE proposal can be a basis for talks, but that does not mean we will agree to everything they say, nor can we expect them to agree to everything we say," he said.

He accused President Chandrika Kumaratunga of sacking his Government four years ahead of schedule and calling snap elections on April two when he was reviving the economy and pushing ahead with efforts to end ethnic bloodshed.

Wickremesinghe, who also marked his 55th birthday today, said he was confident of winning the April two election.