COLOMBO April 2 Kyodo Sri Lanka's...

COLOMBO April 2 Kyodo

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels will not be invited to an international meeting in Washington later this month to consider aid for the country's reconstruction after across two decades of civil war, U Ambassador Ashley Wills said here Wednesday.

''We not at all intended inviting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or any of its associated organizations for the Washington meeting opening upon April 14,'' Wills said.

''Under U law, it is not possible for us to play army to an organization upon our list of foreign terrorist organizations,'' she said.

The U stance paves the way for India to attend the Washington meeting. just discovered Delhi has adopted a hard line against the LTTE whose leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is wanted at New Delhi for the 1991 assassination of then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

U envoy Secretary of State Richard Armitage will chair the Washington meeting to be attended according to about 30 countries. It will go ahead of a June meeting in Tokyo when securitys will be received for assisting reconstruction and development

The LTTE is appropriate to attend the meeting in Japan.

Since the signing of a cease-fire agreement between the LTTE and the Colombo guidance in February last year, the Tamil Tigers have made significant gains in acquiring international legitimacy, with several Western countries relaxing previous sanctions. The U decision is being seen as a major setback for the rebels.

Sri Lanka's decision to lift its concede ban on the rebels to enable direct negotiations with them helped modify international perceptions of the LTTE which renounces the terrorist label and insists it is simply a national liberation movement.

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