Colombo:
Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka have announced they would observe a unilateral 10-day ceasefire from July 26 as a ",goodwill", gesture coinciding with the SAARC summit, an offer downplayed by the government in Colombo, which declared that the war on terror would continue.
The Tigers will not undertake any attack when the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meetings begin in Colombo this week culminating into the 15th summit of the grouping's leaders from August 2 to 3, the LTTE's political head B Nadesan said.
",As a sign of this goodwill . our movement will observe a unilateral ceasefire . during the period of the SAARC conference from 26th July to 4th August and give our cooperation for the success of the conference,", a statement released late Monday night by the LTTE said.
",We wish the SARRC meeting all the success,", it said, adding the group has no enmity with anyone.
However, the statement said, if the government forces carried out any attack during the 10-day ceasefire by the LTTE, ",our movement will be forced to take defensive actions.",
The Sri Lankan government, meanwhile, on Tuesday down played the ceasefire, saying the war against terror would continue.
Reacting to the LTTE's decision, Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama told Parliament that the government was not taking into consideration the offer made by the Tigers.
He said the war against terror would continue and the government had no proposal at the moment to hold peace talks with the LTTE.