EU ban on Tigers will help peace talks: Rajapaksa

A news report said that Rajapaksa was confident the EU ban would help force the Tamil Tigers back to the negotiating table.

An impending European ban on the Tamil Tiger rebels will leave the group with little choice but to engage in peace talks, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in an interview published on Thursday.

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The European Union is expected to add the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to its list of banned terrorist groups on Monday, the Financial Times said. The United States, India, Britain and Canada have already done so.

Rajapaksa told the British daily: "The LTTE thought the world was with them. Their propaganda machine was very effective.

"Now, with the EU ban coming, they will realise that they can't use these tactics, killing innocent people, murdering. They will have to think twice and be much more careful. They have to think twice about fighting the whole world. Whoever has political sense won't do that."

The Financial Times said Rajapaksa was confident the EU ban would help force the Tamil Tigers back to the negotiating table.

London-based Anton Balasingham said the rebels would retreat from negotiations with the government if they were listed as a terrorist group.

Rajapakse said he was trying to form a consensus among his country's main political parties. He also rejected being described as a warmonger.

"Even when we give (the Tigers) something they want, they say they don't want it. But I want the LTTE to come and discuss a solution.