The Tamil Tigers said for the first time today they were not fighting for a separate state in Sri Lanka, in a major breakthrough announced at the end of three-day peace talks.
"We don't operate with a concept of 'Eelam'," said chief Tiger negotiator Mr Anton Balasingham, referring to the separate state the Tigers have been demanding during the past three decades of conflict.
"We operate with a concept of self-determination," he said, adding they will now discuss a suitable model that will meet the aspirations of Sri Lanka's minority Tamils.
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The head of the Sri Lankan delegation Mr GL Peiris welcomed Mr Balasingham's remarks and confirmed a separate state was not the goal of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"These aspirations can be achieved within one country if we set about (the discussions) correctly," he said at the end of 12 hours of negotiations held at a Thai naval base.
Mr Balasingham said the movement's fighters wanted a greater say in running a civil administration in the island's north-east, and to play a pivotal role in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-ravaged areas.
His comments also kept open an option for the Tigers to continue fighting if they are not given a greater political role, and he said that the question of laying down arms could not yet be addressed.
"It is too premature to discuss the question of disarming and decommissioning weapons held by the Tamil Tigers," he said in the Tamil language.