Sri Lanka is ready to resolve its bloody civil conflict through a national consensus involving all political parties and separatist Tamil rebels, President Mahinda Rajapakse said on Sunday. But he acknowledged any progress towards peace was slow and gave no details of how such a consensus would be achieved.
Around 67,000 people have been killed in the Indian Ocean island nation since 1983 as a result of clashes between government forces and the rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are demanding a separate homeland.
Rajapakse, who was elected a year ago, has flatly rejected rebel demands for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east, where they already run a de facto state.
This year alone, more than 3,000 civilians, troops and rebels have been killed in land, sea and air battles, leaving a 2002 ceasefire agreement in tatters.
Speaking at a conference of Asian mayors in the northern Indian hill resort of Dehradun, Rajapakse told delegates that he wanted to bring all parties on board.
The crisis in Sri Lanka has escalated since August this year with the Tamil Tigers making repeated attacks on the military. Security forces have retaliated, pounding rebel strongholds.