Sri Lankan separatist rebels fighting a last stand in the island's north yesterday issued an eleventh-hour call for a ceasefire leading to peace talks to "end the human suffering" for hundreds of thousands of civilians caught up in the -fighting.
But the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said in a letter to the United Nations, the US, the EU, the UK, Norway and Japan that while it was ready for a ceasefire it was unwilling to meet calls from foreign governments and the Sri Lankan state to lay down arms before talks.
