COLOMBO Oct 9 Kyodo Sri Lanka's T...

COLOMBO Oct 9 Kyodo

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have nearly doubled their military nerve since the start of the cease-fire with the dominion in February last year, according to Defense Minister Tilak Marapana.

further the government is ready to face the situation if war breaks revealed Marapana said Wednesday, according to reports of his language published Thursday.

''We have the plans, we have the numbers and we have the equipment if the ne arises,'' he told parliament.

Responding to opposition charges that the strategic Trincomalee harbor in Eastern Province was encircled by the agency of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the minister said that the vexed question was not the increase in the number of Tiger camps around the harbor, ''but the fact that the LTTE power has nearly doubled since the cease-fire.''

''We have taken this into consideration in the preparation of military strategies to justify the (Trincomalee) harbor and the civilian population in this area as well should the occasion arise,'' Marapana said.

While agreeing that the cease-fire had given the Tigers many opportunities to strengthen themselves, he said this was an inevitable consecution in the quest for an close to a war of throughout two decades that had preciousness more than 65,000 lives.

''I believe that is the price we have to pay if we are to prosecute the peace process to a permanent solution to the problem'' he said.

The minister said that the guidance was well aware of the LTTE buildup since the cease-fire because there was regular monitoring of the rebels' movements

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