Sri Lankan Government announces total war strategy

The Sri Lankan Government says the only way to end the Tamil separatist insurgency is full-scale war.

The unusually hard-hitting statement has been issued two days after the military launched a massive aerial attack on bases of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in northern Jaffna Peninsula.

The Government says the air strikes were necessary to prevent a planned guerrilla attack on Jaffna, the main city in the northern war zone.

Capturing Jaffna would give the rebels a position of strength, as the city, inhabited by Tamils for centuries, is the biggest trophy in the civil war.

The rebels ran a virtual state from Jaffna from 1990-95.

"It is the duty of the Government to defend the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. It will do so by every means at its command," the statement said.

The rebels' true intention remains the establishment of a separate state by force, the statement said.

Sri Lanka's civil war, which started in July 1983, has left more than 64,000 people dead and 1.6 million displaced.

The rebels say the 3.2 million Tamils can prosper only away from domination of Sinhalese, the island country's majority making up 14 million of Sri Lanka's 18.6 million people.

Norway has been trying for two years to bring the two sides to peace talks.

The rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire earlier this year, saying it was a step towards peace talks, but demanded the guerrilla organisation be legalised and the Government offensive stop.

The Government rejected the ceasefire, saying it was a ploy for the guerrillas to regroup and build up supplies.