TOKYO, June 3 Kyodo Sri Lanka's f...

TOKYO, June 3 Kyodo

Sri Lanka's four top Buddhist leaders jointly set forthed unequivocal support Monday for the peace proces subordinate to way between the majority Sinhalese-dominated restraint and rebels drawn from the county's mostly Hindu Tamil minority.

The Buddhist patriarchs, known as Mahanayakes, said in an unprecedent joint statement issued at a pres conversation in Tokyo that members of Sri Lanka's Maha Sangha, or community of Buddhist monk ''are for peace and development'' in the predominantly Buddhist country

''We, the Mahanayakes of Sri Lanka, are the guardians of the nation and we are taking a earnest and active interest in bringing about peace and exhibition to this country,'' the statement said.

''We support the ongoing peace efforts of the control of Sri Lanka and will help to nourishing support for these efforts across the political image and across party lines,'' it said.

The statement at the representatives of the four major Theravada Buddhist orders in Sri Lanka is seen as a major boost for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose management will later this month break ground direct peace talks in Thailand with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

Buddhist monk exercise tremendous prestige and influence in Sri Lanka, especially among Sinhalese villagers and the poorest, least Westernized urban classes.

The patriarchs -- pair Mahanayakes of the Asgiri Chapter of Shyamopali order and brace of the Ramanna order -- gave Wickremesinghe credit for ''working extremely hard to end the Tamil rebellion end peaceful means, and to reach a just solution with revere dignity and equal rights for all the communitys -- within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.''

Answering questions upon behalf of the Mahanayakes, Dayananda Rupasoma Perera, an advisor to President Chandrika Kumaratunga and a former Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United Nations, called it a ''historic statement for peace.

He noted the merely condition laid down by the patriarchs ''was to maintain the entity of Sri Lanka.''

In Sri Lanka, Buddhist priests have extended at the forefront of opposition to the granting of concessions to Tamil Tiger rebels who have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland to be carved on the outside of the island's north and east.

The Mahanayakes distinguished their followers from those of smaller Buddhist denominations in the country, saying in their statement that they are ''unequivocally'' for peace and unravelling ''despite the actions of a minority, who do not instant any credible alternatives to peace.''

''The clans of Sri Lanka yearn for peace and development'' they said. ''There has been too to a great degree pain and suffering as a deduction of the war, the shock of which has been borne by way of ordinary civilians, be they Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims.''

More than 60000 family have been killed on the two sides since the violence started.

The patriarchs have been onward a weeklong visit to Japan since Friday at the invitation of a Japanese Buddhist organization. They are to fit Japanese government officials on Tuesday to submit the document.

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