Sri Lanka rebels warn of 'liberation'

Guards in Sri Lanka are always prepared for rebel attacks

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Residents of the northern city of Jaffna are bracing for a bloody suicidal showdown between Tamil Tiger rebels and government troops.

The Tigers, buoyed by an attack last month that destroyed 12 aircraft at the island nation's airport, are now telling the citizens of Jaffna to prepare for "liberation."

Jaffna is under government control but the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam want to make it the capital of a homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million Tamils.

For 18 years it has been at the center of the separatist war. The rebels' political wing has now warned the 500,000 residents of the Jaffna region not to cooperate with the army.

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In a statement to the local Udhayan newspaper, the region's 500,000 residents, most of whom are Tamils, were told to "cooperate with the freedom fighters to hasten the day of liberation."

"You are living at a time when the Jaffna Peninsula is undergoing a serious crisis.

"Traitors are actively putting out the great revolutionary fire created by thousands of great heroes who are shedding their blood for the cause of Eelam (nation)," it said.

These are the strongest comments issued by the rebels since their failed attempt to retake Jaffna in November, the Associated Press says.

Three government troops and four Tiger guerrillas were killed on Thursday in a clash in the northeast, military officials said. The latest deaths add to a toll that now numbers more than 64,000 since 1983.

Intimations of a showdown follow the rebels' success in attacking the country's only international airport and an adjoining air base last month.

Confidence in the security Sri Lanka, which lies off the southern tip of India, was badly shaken in late July when the rebels attacked the only international airport and destroyed 12 military and commercial aircraft.

Thirteen suicide squad rebels and seven soldiers were killed.

In Colombo, the Defense Ministry said it was watching the situation in Jaffna.

"There is nothing new in the terrorists' threat," military spokesman Brig. Sanath Karunaratne said. "We are maintaining the required level of security and alertness."

Sri Lanka's minority Tamils say they are discriminated against by the 14 million Sinhalese, who control the government and the military. The government denies the charge.