Maj. Upali Rajapakse said troops consolidated positions in eastern Batticaloa district and in the process killed four rebels.

Rasiah Ilanthirayan, a spokesman for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, confirmed the military's efforts to take rebel-held areas, but denied that four rebels were killed.

``They are trying to enter into our areas, but our fighters are resisting successfully,'' he said when reached by telephone in the guerrilla stronghold of Kilinochchi.

Eastern Batticaloa has seen increased clashes between the military and the Tamil Tigers recently. Fighting on Tuesday killed at least four soldiers and 12 rebels in the area.

The Tigers have been fighting for more than 20 years for a separate homeland for the country's 3.1 million ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of discrimination by the majority ethnic Sinhalese.

Although both sides claim to be adhering to a Norwegian-brokered 2002 cease-fire, violence has escalated since late 2005 with more than 3,600 people killed last year alone. Discuss this story Published: Thu Jan 18 11:24:20 EST 2007

An all-party political conference is working to address the "genuine grievances" of the Tamil people and a political proposal is being drafted by its sub-committee, the island nation's Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said here.

Emphasising that the Mahinda Rajapakse Government was committed to find a negotiated settlement to the decade-old ethnic Tamil problem, he said "the constitutional proposal is for sharing power with the Tamil people." More... Discuss this story Published: Thu Jan 18 11:32:20 EST 2007