Lanka extends state of emergency

Introduced after Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was gunned down by a suspected Tiger assassin last year, the state of emergency gives the police and army wide powers.

It was extended first for a November presidential election and then again every month as violence rose.

Some two hundred people died in less than two months in December and January as suspected Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacks on the military almost destroyed a 2002 ceasefire, but officials say violence has since slumped.

"Last month, the killings and attempted killings came down," Prime Minister Rantasiri Wickremanayake told parliament. "This is a good trend. We want it to continue and so we need to extend the state of emergency."

With most parliamentarians away campaigning ahead of March 30 local elections, Tuesday's extension was passed without voting. The Tamil National Alliance, political proxies of the rebels, abstained.

Wickremanayake said there had only been 10 killings and nine attempted killings since the two sides met last month in Switzerland for their first high level talks since 2003 -- a vast improvement on earlier in the year. The army says not a single soldier has been wounded in the last month.

But divisions between the two sides remain vast, President Mahinda Rajapakse has repeatedly ruled out Tiger demands for a Tamil homeland and the rebels have threatened a return to a two-decade war that has killed more than 64,000 if they do not win concessions.

The Tigers demand the government disarm a renegade group of ex-rebels who they say are now acting as army-backed paramilitaries, and some diplomats fear that without concrete moves from the government the next round of talks in April might not take place.Sri Lanka's stock market, hit hard by the string of attacks at the beginning of year, has since recovered much of its losses but traders say many investors are holding back, waiting to see the outcome of the next meeting in Switzerland.