Lanka turns down Tigers’ talks venue

Colombo, September 1:

Sri Lanka’s government today rejected a Tamil Tiger offer to hold truce review talks inside rebel-held territory as squabbling over the choice of venue threatened to hold up the first high-level encounter between the two sides in 30 months. Government spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva said they flatly rejected an offer by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to stage proposed talks at Kilinochchi.