Tamil Tigers ready to face all-out war

Tamil Tiger rebels stand next to a machine gun during military exercises in Kilnochchi, north of Sri Lanka in this July 13, 2007 file photo.

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels vowed on Thursday to fight a full-scale civil war if the government wages one after scrapping the remains of a tattered ceasefire, and called on Norway to stay on as mediator.

In their first reaction since President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government announced a week ago it was formally scrapping a six-year truce that degenerated into renewed war two years ago, the Tigers said they were ready to abide by the ceasefire but would mount large scale counter-offensives if the armed forces tried to capture their de facto state.

"If full-scale war is thrust upon us, we will face it and the Sri Lankan armed forces will face the same fate that they have faced in 1997/1998," S. Puleedevan, head of the Tigers' peace secretariat, told Reuters by telephone from the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, referring to the bloodiest phase of a 25-year war.

He said the Tigers' new political wing leader, B. Nadesan, appointed after the government killed his predecessor with an air raid in November, had written to Norway's Foreign Minister requesting the Nordic nation continue as mediator.

"We are shocked and disappointed that the government of Sri Lanka has unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire," he added.

The government gave notice last week it was annulling the pact, arguing the Tigers were not sincere about talking peace and had simply used it to regroup and re-arm.

The truce formally ends on Jan. 16, and the unarmed Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which gave up keeping tally of truce violations because they were so numerous, has been told by the government it must leave by then too.

"We are calling on Norway to remain as facilitator, and have told the SLMM we are ready to implement all the provisions of the ceasefire agreement, line by line."

The Tigers later issued a statement saying they were ready to respect the ceasefire pact "100 percent".

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

However, the Tigers have been blamed for a raft of ambushes, bombings and assassinations in recent months in their bid to carve out a separate state in the north and east of the island, and Nordic truce monitors say the Tigers have violated the terms of the ceasefire thousands of times.

Asked if the Tigers would no longer violate the ceasefire terms, Puleedevan said: "We are not saying that. What we are saying is we tried our best to implement (the truce)."

"The Sri Lankan government, the defence secretary, the President ... these people are all beating the war drums and saying we will go for a full-scale war, so that's why we've informed the international community: Please understand the mindset," he added.

"If the Sri Lankan government fails to respect the international community's request (to halt fighting), and if they go for full-scale war, then the LTTE also will face it."

The government, which has also been blamed for a raft of ceasefire violations, has vowed to wipe out the Tigers militarily, setting the stage for what many fear will be a bloody battle for the north as a death toll of around 70,000 people since the war erupted in 1983 climbs daily.

The military has evicted the Tigers from vast swathes of territory the rebels held in the east, and now seeks to make inroads into their northern stronghold against a backdrop of near daily air raids, land and sea battles, ambushes and rebel suicide bombings.

The government's move to annul the ceasefire has shocked the international community and is seen ruining any hope of resurrecting peace talks any time soon.