New recruits bolster Tigers ahead of talks

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held two graduation ceremonies for the "Sea Tigers" in the rebel-held north of the island on Sunday, Tamilnet.com said.

It said 125 combatants were inducted after a graduation parade but did not give figures for a second ceremony also held Sunday.

The Sea Tigers have inflicted heavy casualties on the Sri Lankan navy, sinking dozens of gunboats, naval craft and fast attack vessels in recent years.

The Sri Lankan military accused Sea Tigers of sending a woman "black Sea Tiger," or suicide bomber, to ram an explosives-filled boat into an Israeli-built Dvora fast attack craft killing 15 sailors on January 7.

However, since the Colombo government and the LTTE agreed last week to end a three-year deadlock in peace talks and try to strengthen a ceasefire, the level of violence has dropped sharply, defence officials say.

A defence ministry spokesman said their situation report was a blank sheet Monday in contrast to a daily death toll reported before Norway's special peace envoy Erik Solheim clinched the breakthrough last Wednesday.

However, the LTTE said security forces have continued to harass civilians in the island's embattled northern and eastern regions.

The Sri Lankan government expressed "major relief" over the deal for face-to-face negotiations to stem a wave of killings that has left at least 153 people dead since December.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the Tamil separatist conflict and four previous attempts at peace have ended in failure.