President wants new ceasefire deal

Sri Lanka's new President Mahinda Rajapakse demanded yesterday a new ceasefire deal with Tamil Tiger rebels in the ethnically troubled island and "transparent" monitoring of the Norwegian-brokered truce.

Rajapakse, in his first policy statement to parliament following his election victory last week, said he wanted to institute a new peace process that would not tolerate "terrorism" and recruitment of child soldiers.

The president did not spell out any details, but said the peace process between the previous government and the Tamil Tigers did not make progress because other stakeholders were left out.

"I will have an open and transparent peace process, which will respect human rights. It will not allow child recruitment," he said.

The president said he was ready to open talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) but rejected a long-standing Tiger demand for the recognition of a traditional homeland for the minority Tamils.

"Sri Lanka will be the traditional homeland of all its people -- Singhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays and Burgers," the president said.

He said a solution to the island's decades-old Tamil separatist conflict would be found within a "unitary state," a U-turn for his Sri Lanka Freedom party that earlier agreed to devolve powers under a federal structure.

There was no immediate response from the LTTE to the president's statement.

The election of Rajapakse, dubbed the "war candidate" by the Tamil Tigers during the campaign, had fanned fears among some diplomatic observers that Sri Lanka could return to civil war. A truce has been in effect since 2002.

Rajapakse said his administration was committed to peacefully ending the conflict and would pursue peace talks but they would not only be between the government and the Tigers.

"Our agenda, which shall be open and transparent, shall include vital concerns such as renouncing separatism, demilitarization, discussion towards a final solution and the implementation of such a solution," he said.

"Talks are not going to be easy," he said. "But the path we choose is talks."