Sri Lanka gives security guarantee to Tamil Tigers

The decks are now cleared for the rebels to attend talks in Norway next week aimed at bolstering the monitoring of a shaky ceasefire.

The Sri Lankan government on Friday gave a security guarantee to Tamil Tiger rebels, allowing them to attend talks in Norway next week aimed at strengthening the monitoring of an increasingly shaky ceasefire.

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"As far as Sri Lankan government is concerned, we are taking full responsibility," when the rebels travel through government-held areas, government minister and spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters.

Senior rebel official Seevaratnam Puleedevan said on Thursday that they had agreed in principle to attend June 8-9 talks in Oslo, Norway, but they needed a security guarantee from the government.

The rebels are required to pass through government-held areas to board flights from the country's only international airport on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo.

Norway proposed the talks to review the monitoring of the Oslo-brokered truce, which appears increasingly tenuous due to violence that has left an estimated 374 people dead since the start of April.