The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Colombo

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said he would not allow the Tamil Tigers to hold the Tamil people hostage, as the decades- long conflict with the rebels escalates, his office said today.

In an address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Rajapakse accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of denying Tamil people living in the north their democratic rights to dissent and free speech.

The president asked the LTTE, who have been fighting for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the island's north and east since 1972, to disarm and resume talks with the government.

"Our government would only be ready to talk to this illegal armed group (LTTE) when it is ready to commit itself to decommissioning of its illicit weapons and dismantling of its military capability, and return to the democratic fold."

The LTTE did not immediately comment on Rajapakse's remarks.

Having wrestled the east from the LTTE in July 2007, Rajapakse's government pulled out of a ceasefire with the rebels in January, and is currently trying to dismantle their northern mini-state.

Having poured in a record 1.5 billion dollars into this year's war efforts, troops are now moving to capture the rebels' political capital of Kilinochchi and its neighbouring district of Mullaittivu.

The Tigers have lost some 6,862 rebels in the latest offensive since January, according to Sri Lanka's defence ministry, while 672 soldiers have died during the same period.

Aid organisations say the fighting has forced around 230,000 people from their homes.