(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-03 16:08

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government has decided to withdraw from the ceasefire agreement with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), government sources said Wednesday.

Sri Lankan soldiers guard near a damaged military bus after a bomb explosion in Colombo January 2, 2008. Sri Lanka's government has decided to formally annul a ceasefire agreement with the Tamil Tigers, a senior government official said on Wednesday. [Agencies]

Military Spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the cabinet made the decision Wednesday night after an Army bus was attacked in Colombo by suspected LTTE rebels Wednesday morning, killing four people and injuring 24 others.

Nanayakkara said the government has not officially informed the Norwegian government, the broker of the ceasefire agreement in 2002, about the decision.

According to the ceasefire agreement signed in February 2002, the agreement will be annulled 14 days after either the government or the LTTE informs the Norwegian government that it decides to withdraw from the agreement.

Government defense spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella said that the government has taken the decision because the Norwegian facilitated agreement failed.

"The attempts made so far to have a negotiated settlement with LTTE terrorists could bring no favorable results," Rambukwella told media.

He said the government sees no point of having any attempt to come to a settlement with a terrorist outfit as the government is already in a negotiation process to address grievances of Tamil people with democratic Tamil political segments.

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