Top peace envoy Erik Solheim also reiterated that the Geneva talks were different to the six-rounds of peace talks held earlier. The talks _ aimed at fortifying the February 2002 truce _ are expected to be held for a two-day duration in the third week of next month, the officials said.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE, have already finalized their delegation to be led by the Tigers ideologue Anton Balasingham.

Balasingham, left the island Saturday after participating in crucial talks between the LTTE leader and Norwegian peace brokers three days earlier, that resulted in a breakthrough to revive negotiations between the government and the rebels.

War fears had spiraled in Sri Lanka following a wave of killings that had killed more than 100 people, mostly security forces. Thursday's breakthrough came after a nearly three-year deadlock between the parties.

The rebels had been fighting since 1983 for a separate state claiming discrimination of minority Tamils by the 14 million Sinhalese majority. Nearly 65,000 people were killed before the Feb. 22, 2002 Norwegian-brokered cease-fire. Subsequent peace talks broke down a year later amid rebels demands for wide autonomy.

Discuss this story Published: Sat Jan 28 23:45:48 EST 2006

The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a Tamil homeland, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

Sri Lankan security forces, meanwhile, came under attack twice this weekend in the Jaffna Peninsula, leaving one soldier wounded, according to the military.

The violence Saturday came despite an agreement between the government and Tamil rebels to cease all hostilities and prepare for a new round of peace talks, to be held next month in Switzerland.

The Defense Ministry blamed ``terrorists'' for the attacks, but did not single out the LTTE by name. The guerrilla group, fighting to carve out a separate homeland for Sri Lanka - 's 3.2 million Tamils, is banned in the United States and neighboring India as terrorist organization.

The rebel group didn't mention the attack on its peace secretariat Web site, instead accusing the military of harassment.

``(The) Sri Lankan army's harassment, cordon and search operations and intimidation against civilians still continues in the Jaffna Peninsula though the government of Sri Lanka - and the LTTE have agreed to hold talks,'' the statement said.

Discuss this story Published: Sun Jan 29 13:11:21 EST 2006

The Defense Ministry blamed ``terrorists'' for the attacks on Saturday, but did not single out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam by name. The guerrilla group, fighting to curve out a separate homeland for Sri Lanka - 's 3.2 million Tamils, is banned in the United States and neighboring India as terrorist organization.

In the first attack along the road that links Jaffna with the Point Pedro sea port, Sri Lankan soldiers came under gunfire from attackers hiding behind a building.

In another attack, in the hamlet of Chulipuram, one soldier was wounded when attackers hurled a grenade a military patrol.

The areas were cordoned off and a search operation was ordered, said Samarasinghe. No other details were immediately available.

The attacks follows last week's agreement between the government and the rebels on Wednesday to cease all hostilities and prepare for a new round of peace talks to be held in mid-February in Switzerland.

That agreement, brokered by Norwegian envoy Eric Solheim, came after weeks of violence, most of which was blamed on the Tamil Tigers, who have fought since 1983 for a Tamil homeland.

The Tigers also accused the government of backing the assassination on Thursday of a senior rebel officer.

Seevaratnam Puleedevan, a top rebel peace negotiator, said the killing of the rebel officer which the government denies involvement in throws into question Colombo's commitment to restart the talks that have been stalled since April 2003.

``Our leadership is very disturbed, as this is a very serious incident,'' he said, according to the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site.

Puleedevan blamed the attack on ``paramilitary cadres (backed by) Sri Lankan armed forces.''

Discuss this story Published: Sun Jan 29 03:08:21 EST 2006