More babies wanted for Sri Lankan war effort

Tamils in training prepare for battle against government troops

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka's prime minister has appealed to the country to have more babies to help swell the ranks of the army and vanquish separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

The comments by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake drew fire Tuesday from political analysts who said the remarks warranted a clarification of government policy towards the 18-year conflict that has claimed about 64,000 lives.

Wickremanayake blamed the country's highly successful Small Families Campaign, launched in the 1970s, for the poor response to army recruitment drives.

"It is because people believe in the small family concept that we do not have the extra 10,000 troops needed to finish off the ethnic war quickly," Wickremanayake, a 68-year-old father of three, was quoted as saying in local press.

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The army frequently woos new recruits to fill ranks depleted by desertions and casualties from fighting the rebels but often receives a tepid response.

Last year, 1,464 military personnel died in the conflict. Tamils have been battling for an independent state in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983

Military commanders and government politicians have in the past said a manpower shortage was the only obstacle in the way of victory.

Earlier this year Wickremanayake personally led a campaign to urge men to enlist as soon as they turned 18.

Wickremanayake's office confirmed the remarks were made Sunday at Bathalegala, about 80 km (50 miles) east of the capital Colombo, but said they were intended for a rural audience.

"The Prime Minister's remarks were more suggestions than statements of policy," Wickremanayake's Press Secretary, Seelaratne Senarath, told Reuters news agency.

But political analysts said the speech could not be taken lightly because of its implications for a Norwegian-brokered peace bid that has stalled over rebel demands that a ban on their organisation be lifted before talks begin.

"A clarification is due because the remarks by a well-known hardliner commit the country to a protracted conflict at the time when the peace process is in crisis," said Kethesh Loganathan, of the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives.